Ancient Germanic Warriors - Irminsol Heathen Fellowship

ANCIENT GERMANIC WARRIORS

ANCIENT GERMANIC
WARRIORS
Warrior styles from Trajan’s Column to Icelandic sagas
Michael P.Speidel
LONDON AND NEW YORK

First published 2004 by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
Simultaneously published in the UK by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
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© 2004 Michael P.Speidel
All rights reserved. No part of this book my be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or
by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permisslon
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from the British Library
ISBN Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-415-31199-3 (Print Edition)

TO ANTHONY BIRLEY IN FRIENDSHIP

PART 1 Animal warriors
CONTENTS
List of figures viii
Preface xii
Acknowledgements xiii
Introduction 1
1 Wolves 10
2 Bears 34
3 Bucks 41
4 Martens 46
PART 2 Frightening warriors
5 Naked berserks 51
6 Ghosts 73
PART 3 Strong men
7 Club-wielders 77
8 Wielders of huge spears 87
9
50
76

PART 4 Shield warriors
9 Shield castles 91
10 Chanting 97
11 War dances 101
PART 5 Churls
12 Dart-throwers 114
13 Rock-throwers 116
PART 6 Horsemen
14 Lancers 119
15 Spear-throwers 125
16 Wheeling right 129
PART 7 Foot against horse
17 Horse-stabbers 133
18 Horse-hewers 147
PART 8 Outstanding warriors
19 Long-hairs 156
20 Helmet-wearers 162
PART 9 Warrior styles through the ages
21 Iron Age warriors and the civilizations of Greece and Rome 172
22 End and afterglow 177
90
113
118
132
155
171

Conclusion 180
Timetable 181
Notes 183
Bibliography 258
Index 283

FIGURES
0.1 Trajan’s marching route with his strike force in AD 101 4
0.2 The emperor with his strike force, Trajan’s Column, scene 36 4
1.1 Warriors on Trajan’s Column wearing wolfskins, bearskins and
crossband helmets
1.2 Shield badges of Auxilia Palatina units in the Notitia
Dignitatum
1.3 Seventh-century silver scabbard, Gutenstein 21
1.4 The Gutenstein dies reconstructed 24
1.5 Wolf-warrior offering his sword to Woden, silver foil,
Obrigheim, Pfalz
1.6 Woden with twin-dragon headgear followed by a wolf-warrior
drawing his sword, bronze die, Torslunda, Öland
1.7 Sigmund (?), fighting the worm, bronze figurine, Ekhammar,
Uppland
1.8 Hundsgugel wolf-helmet of about AD 1390–1400, southern
Germany
2.1 Bear- and wolf-warriors, wearing different pelt hoods 35
3.1 Warrior with horned helmet at the siege of Verona (AD 311),
Constantine’s Arch, Rome
3.2 Shield with facing twin dragons, Constantine’s Arch, Rome 43
3.3 Buck on scabbard chape, Fredsö, Denmark 44
14
17
26
28
30
33
42

4.1 Germanic helmet with feathers and perhaps a marten skull,
Gelduba, Rhineland
4.2 Marten shield badge, Notitia Dignitatum 48
4.3 Boar-warrior, Oseberg wall-hanging, Oslo 49
5.1 The emperor and his barefoot followers, Trajan’s Column,
scene 36
5.2 Barefooted, bare-chested warriors fighting with rapiers,
Trajan’s Column, scene 40
5.3 Barefooted swordsmen, Trajan’s Column, scene 42 57
5.4 Ivory chess piece showing berserk biting his shield, Isle of
Lewis
7.1 Club-wielder with shield and sword, Trajan’s Column, scene 24 79
7.2 Club-men, fighting, Trajan’s column, scene 38 80
7.3 Horse chest guard, Transylvania, showing club-wielder and
horseman on the attack
8.1 Rock drawing from Tanum, Bohuslän, showing wielder of a
huge spear
9.1 A shield wall on the attack, Trajan’s Column, scene 70 92
10.1 Bronze foil from Valsgärde showing warriors chanting the
barritus
11.1 Spear dancer drawing from Tanum, Bohuslän 104
11.2 Bracteate medallion from Års, Denmark, depicting war god
dancing
11.3 Gilt buckle from Finglesham, Kent, showing weapon dancer 107
47
55
56
70
82
88
99
105

11.4 Ancestor masks of twin-dragon dancers, wolf-warriors, and
long-hairs(?)
11.5 The Battle at Bråvalla, Oseberg wall-hanging, Oslo 112
14.1 Lancers of Trajan’s bodyguard, Trajan’s Column, scene 5 120
14.2 Gravestone from Gerulata, Slovakia, showing horseman with
huge lance
14.3 Horseman with heavy spear, bronze foil, Vendel, Uppland 123
15.1 Spear and shield of a second-century horse guardsman,
gravestone, Rome
17.1 Horse-stabber underhoof, gravestone of Romanius, Mainz 137
17.2 Horse-stabber underhoof, gravestone of Dolanus, Wiesbaden 138
17.3 Kneeling warrior, facing a horseman of the emperor’s guard,
gravestone, Rome
17.4 Horse-stabber with spear, sarcophagus from Portonaccio, Rome 141
17.5 Sixth-century horse-stabber on disc brooch from Pliezhausen,
Baden-Württemberg
18.1 Long-haired Chattian warrior with curved sword, gravestone of
Andes, Mainz
18.2 Horse-hewer with curved weapon, sarcophagus from
Portonaccio, Rome
18.3 Miniature bronze weapon from Enns, Oberösterreich 151
18.4 Weapons of the squire, twin grave at Káloz, Hungary 152
19.1 Long-haired tribal warrior, gravestone of Carminius Ingenuus,
Worms
110
121
127
140
144
149
150
159

20.2 Open Vendel helmet with a ridge (wale), grave 6, Valsgärde,
Uppland
20.3 Silver crown from Thorsberg, Schleswig 166
20.4 Lothair I, wearing an open crown with a wale, book cover,
British Library, London
20.5 German imperial crown (AD 1027), Weltliche Schatzkammer,
Hofburg, Wien
21.1 Giant warrior overcome by Roman horsemen, bronze scabbard,
Windisch
21.2 Germanic guards of Theodosius (AD 379–395), Theodosius’
Obelisk, Byzantium
163
168
169
174
176

PREFACE
Iron Age warriors, shapers of Europe, first came to my mind on a cold winter day in 1948
when my twin brother and I crossed frozen Lake Greifensee in Switzerland. As we came
through the fog to the far shore, the ruins of Fort Irgenhausen rose before us. The walls,
so a sign said, were Roman. We gasped at the depth of time, wondering about Romans
who had lived in heated buildings and banished the frost that bit our fingers. We
wondered too about the Alamanni outside the fort, shivering and howling in the woods—
ferum ululantes et lugubre, as Ammianus gives to understand—but who in their turn
became lords of the land.
My scholarly interest in ancient warrior styles awoke years later when I saw that the
reliefs in scene 36 of Trajan’s Column show the men nearest the emperor to be barechested
and barefooted, followed by club-wielders, wolf- and bear-warriors, and wearers
of crossband helmets—all representing Germanic, not Roman, warrior styles. Trying to
understand these warrior styles, to trace them in the ancient sources, and to see them in
the context of world history, took ten years of work.
War is anguish and must not be idealized. Yet it also leads to some of mankind’s most
intense outbursts of life—it is hard not to be stirred by the daring and ecstasy of Iron Age
warriors.
Mt. Tantalus and Maleakahana,
Honolulu, Summer 2003

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
For help and guidance I thank friends and colleagues, above all Morten Axboe, Dietwulf
Baatz, Heinrich Beck, Marianne Bergmann, Helmut Birkhan, Anthony and Heide Birley,
Waltraut Boppert, my sister Sylvia Couchoud, Sigrid Dušek, Klaus Düwel, Gerhard
Fingerlin, Klaus Fittschen, Karl Hauck, I-Tien Hsieng, Bernhard Palme, Michael
Pavkovic, Barbara Scardigli, Wolfgang Schlüter, M.Schulze-Dörrlamm, Gisli
Sigurdsson, Heiko Steuer, Oliver Stoll, Bengt Thomasson, Dieter Timpe, Hanns Ubl,
Barbara Wührer, Paul Zanker, and my nephew Michael Speidel the Younger.
Ever-generous Idus Newby, Professor Emeritus and former Chair of the History
Department at the University of Hawaii, turned my phrases as he did with Riding for
Caesar. Gisela, my wife, shared in this as in all my quests; we traveled together in search
of sources to the far corners of the earth from Iceland to Fireland, and in countless
conversations and manuscript readings she straightened the lines of reasoning.

Introduction 1
INTRODUCTION
Ancient warrior styles
Archaic warriors everywhere re-enacted in masked dances the deeds of gods and
ancestors. They did so to gain the divine ecstasy of “the beginning of time.” Germanic
warriors too danced in this way. In battle, when it mattered most to live in mythical time,
warriors bodied forth gods and ancestors by fighting in their style. 1
Batavi going to battle sang of “Hercules,” their ancestral, club-wielding hero. As the
hero inspired them, one may assume that some among them fought with clubs in the
hero’s style. Gods and hero-ancestors no doubt were models also for wolf-warriors, longhairs,
ghost warriors, barritus-dancers, and naked berserks. New finds may one day tell
us of the mythic models of other warrior styles as well.
Such styles upheld tribal traditions, culture, and identity. They also heartened the
individual warrior: becoming greater than himself, a part of the tribe’s past and future, he
rose above whatever might befall him in battle. He fulfilled his role by fighting as his
forefathers had done and as those after him would do.
Arising from beliefs and states of mind as well as from weapons, warrior styles
manifest themselves in dress, weaponry, and fighting technique. Therein lies their
fascination. As a battle leader dons a “mask of command,” so warriors, in the words of
Wallace Stevens, don “an inhuman person, a mask, a spirit, an accoutrement,” which
captures well the link between outfit and outlook that underlies warrior styles. 2
“Styles” are a flexible, inclusive concept: some are narrowly technical, others ideabound,
and all shade into others: wolf-warriors might go berserk, shield warriors wield
clubs, and long-hairs fight as horse-stabbers. It is nevertheless helpful to focus on specific
styles, for it brings into view something of the looks, mind-set, and fighting techniques—
and perhaps the essence—of each style.
Warrior styles have much to offer our understanding of history. They tell us how long
ago, when war was still welcome, fighting men reached the state of ecstasy that led them
to do astounding things. 3 They lead us into the heart of Vedic Indian, Homeric, Celtic,
and Germanic civilizations, where fighting prowess was the measure of a man. 4 They link
the Bronze, Iron, and Middle Ages—two thousand years of history seldom seen as
belonging together. They often turned the wheel of events during these many years: wolfwarriors
founded Rome in 753 BC, enthroned Emperor Constantine in AD 306, and
united Norway in the battle of Hafrsfjord in AD 872; and horse-stabbers won the battle of
Pharsalus in 48 BC that turned Rome from a republic into a monarchy.
Found during the Bronze Age almost everywhere in Europe and West Asia, these
styles gave way among classical Greeks and Romans to “rational” warfare. In middle and
northern Europe, however, warriors followed the old styles throughout the Iron Age and
early Middle Ages. There one can study them in detail and trace their history.
Not that scholars have ignored these styles. Good work has been done, above all, on
Indo-European warriors. But no one has treated Indo-European or Germanic warrior

Ancient Germanic warriors 2
styles as a whole. Though modern surveys overlook them, they are well worth studying
for their great role in history and for the light they shed on the minds of men who lived so
long ago. 5 Much that is offered here is new, and our study carries the risks of pioneering
endeavor. Yet chances are good of winning fresh insights from a thorough reading of
both Roman and Germanic evidence. Roman evidence is trustworthier than is often
acknowledged—ancient writers and sculptors knew their times better than modern
critics. 6 Besides, Roman evidence keeps growing: new archaeological and epigraphic
sources come to light every year, widening and deepening our knowledge of Germanic
warriors during the first five centuries of our era.
Germanic evidence too has grown greatly over the last decades. New embossed metal
foils with seventh-century warrior images have been found, and almost a thousand
bracteate (gold-leaf) amulets from the fifth and sixth centuries are now accessible in
splendid photographs and drawings. These sources prove that warriors worshiped Woden
and told his myths much earlier than hitherto thought; some fighting styles are thus best
understood in the light of Woden worship. Ancient Germanic warrior names, authentic
evidence from before the beginning of our era, underpin our knowledge of warrior styles,
and since Wilhelm Grimm first treated them in 1865, new collections and studies have
made them more useful still. 7 Luckily, from eighth-century Beowulf to thirteenth-century
Icelandic sagas (and Saxo Grammaticus of Denmark), northern literary works enliven the
documentary evidence.
Early cultures around the world provide further insight. In the Americas as well as
Africa, warrior societies dominated archaic cultures as much as they did in Europe.
Germanic warrior customs such as masked dances, and styles like berserks or wolfwarriors,
find astonishing parallels world-wide that sharpen our perception and help
explain otherwise little-understood customs. They also put Germanic warrior styles into
the world-historical framework that is essential for understanding history in the twentyfirst
century. 8
Indo-European forerunners and parallels shed an even brighter light on Germanic
warrior styles. If Greeks and Vedic Indians separated as late as 1600 BC, as they may
well have done, then the time gap for comparing such eastern and western Indo-
Europeans as Vedic Indians and Germans is not as huge and forbidding as once feared.
Indo-European history and culture are now lively fields of research. What we know of
Indo-European language, myths, ideals, concepts, and institutions suggests that most Iron
Age warrior styles throve already in the Bronze Age of the third millennium BC when
Indo-European nations still lived together. Scholars like George Dumézil and Mircea
Eliade have underpinned this view with persuasive explanations. 9 Though non-Indo-
Europeans often had similar customs, language family is linked with myth, and myth
with warrior styles, 10 which gives IndoEuropean parallels a particular weight. Our study
of each warrior style thus begins with an outline of its Indo-European history.
The old Indo-European warrior styles lived longest and are best documented among
Germanic nations of northern Europe. As neighbors, with a common language and
religion, Germanic peoples shared one culture. Looking at them, as we will, from 200
BC, the date at which on current understanding Germanic culture began, to AD 1000
when Christianity transformed it, one can draw on rich sources within a strong historical
frame, well-grounded in time and space. 11

Introduction 3
Our study focuses mainly on the first seven centuries of our era. Moreover, the bulk of
the evidence bears on western and northern Germani from the Rhine and upper Danube to
Denmark and Sweden. These are the peoples least changed by migration, which may
explain why the picture found in the sources and offered here is so even and unitary.
Having striven to use all major Roman and Germanic sources, made my own
translations, and traveled to see with my own eyes the artefacts from the Codex Regius in
Reykjavik to Theodosius’ Obelisk in Constantinople, I am yet aware that this study
stands on how well it interprets works of art like Trajan’s Column, the Gutenstein
scabbard, and the Gerulata gravestone. I nevertheless trust that the wealth of literary
sources gathered here gives a proper voice to the silent pictures and that my findings
reflect what truly happened.
The emperor’s strike force on Trajan’s Column
Trajan’s Column, Rome’s largest and most spectacular work of art, is also our best source
for ancient warrior styles. Standing 100 feet tall on level space carved out of the
Esquiline Hill, the Column celebrates the conquest of Dacia, Rome’s last major
expansion in Europe: spiral reliefs wind up the shaft to show the world how Trajan in AD
101–106 won the new province. 12 His fighting men were not only legionaries, but also
auxiliaries and allies from the borderlands, among them tribal troops from both sides of
the Rhine. Portraying these men, the Column offers the most detailed images of
Germanic warrior styles we have from antiquity.
The reliefs tell the story of the Dacian wars in a straightforward sequence of events.
As the scenes unfold, the emperor and his army cross the Danube in the summer of 101
and march north toward the Dacian capital of Sarmizegethusa, in what is now Romanian
Transylvania. There the advance stalls. Worse, to take pressure off their heartland, the
Dacians and their Sarmatian allies undertake a daring counter-thrust southward, deep into
the Roman province of Lower Moesia.
Learning of this, Trajan gathers his fastest troops, mainly auxiliaries and tribal troops,
and rushes with them to the new theater of war. As Figure 0.1 shows, they race to the
river, sail downstream, and by hurried marches come upon the enemy in Lower Moesia.
There they catch and overwhelm roving, plundering bands of Dacians and Sarmatians.
Then, joined by legionaries, Trajan’s strike force wins the decisive battle at Adamklissi,
marked to this day by the huge Tropaeum Traiani monument.
The emperor’s strike force hastening to meet the enemy in Lower Moesia appears in
scene 36 of the Column (Figure 0.2). 13
In the lower part of the scene, the horsemen following the emperor wear auxiliary
mailshirts, neckerchiefs, and helmets. They must be the imperial horse guard, the Equites
Singulares Augusti, for emperors always took the field with their horse guard nearby. The
troopers further behind may form a group of their own and be regular cavalry, unless they
too are part of the horse guard. Only the emperor rides. All other horsemen have alighted
and are walking—a graphic device to stress the speed of the advance, for cavalry horses
on forced marches must be spelled. 14

Ancient Germanic warriors 4
Figure 0.1 Trajan’s marching route
with his strike force in AD 101.
Figure 0.2 The emperor with his strike
force. Trajan’s Column, scene 36.
Photo: Deutsches Archäologisches
Institut, Rome, Inst. Neg. 90250.

Introduction 5
In the upper part of the scene, foot soldiers hurry along in two groups of eight men each.
Those to the left wear standard mailshirts like regular auxiliaries. Some of them wear
open crossband helmets, others bearskins or wolfskins. Those to the right, led by the
emperor himself, are barefooted, bare-chested youths, followed by a man in a sleeveless
shirt and a club-man. The nearness of these men to the emperor, their tribal battle dress
and strange weapons catch the eye. 15 They are all fast attack troops.
Further on, scenes 37–42 (see Figures 5.2, 5.3, 7.2) show the progress and aftermath
of the Lower Moesian campaign: a cavalry skirmish against Sarmatians, a night attack
against booty-laden Dacians, the crucial battle at Tropaeum Traiani, and Trajan’s speech
to the victorious troops. The emperor’s youthful, barefooted followers appear three times
in these scenes but nowhere else on the Column: in scene 36 they march; in scene 40 they
fight; in scene 42 they are praised. Their presence in this sequence only, hitherto
overlooked, proves that scenes 36–42 belong together and depict a specific campaign,
surely the one that freed Lower Moesia from invaders. 16
The coherence of these scenes is a good reason to trust their portrayal of warriors.
Even Karl Lehmann-Hartleben, the scholar who argued most strongly against historical
accuracy in the reliefs, noted that scene 42, with the emperor’s speech at the end of the
campaign, pays greater heed to the sundry branches of the army than any other such
scene on the Column. The artist, he believed, had been told to make clear which troops
had won this, the bloodiest and most decisive battle of the war. One may add that scene
36, leading up to the battle, depicts even more units and in yet greater detail. The call to
make clear which troops had fought at Tropaeum Traiani thus applied to all scenes from
36 through 42, from the setting out for the battle to its aftermath. Detailed, coherent, and
true in their depiction of events, scenes 36–42 are a well-grounded basis for the study of
tribal warrior styles. 17
How far do the reliefs reflect the true appearance of the soldiers? Aside from a few
inadvertent mistakes, the reliefs stray somewhat from historical accuracy in that for the
sake of clarity they depict all legionaries in strip armor and all auxiliaries in mailshirts,
while in reality some legionaries also wore mailshirts or scale armor. Likewise, in reality,
Dacians often wore armor and rode on horseback, but, being enemies, are rarely thus
shown on the reliefs. 18
These are not telling inaccuracies, however, for unlike some other works of Roman
triumphal art Trajan’s Column, greatly to its credit, does not invent dress or equipment,
nor does it change them to make them look “classical.” Above all, it portrays outlandish
troops in careful, realistic detail. Caftan-clad oriental bowmen as well as bare-back
riding, curly haired Mauri are shown with great accuracy. Even scale-armored Sarmatians
are portrayed with some correctness. The same is therefore likely to be true of Trajan’s
outlandish troops in scene 36. 19
Nor does the Column indulge in the exotic. Tradition demanded that the artists depict
a colorful array, eager to fight. Bhagavad Gita and Homer give a rousing roll-call of the
warriors who came to the great war. Herodotus does the same for the army Xerxes led
into Greece. Vergil vies with Homer and Herodotus in portraying the warriors who
fought Aeneas’ war in Latium. And Saxo Grammaticus lists with relish the troops who
battled at Bråvalla. As for Trajan’s Column, to give epic scope to the narrative of the
Dacian wars, it too had to portray far-fetched, colorful tribesmen. To do so it used the
agreed-upon view of northern tribesmen: tall, half-naked, long-haired, eager to fight. But

Ancient Germanic warriors 6
the time-worn view was also true to life, as borne out by the mass of evidence offered in
the following chapters. Besides, the Roman army not only hired men who fit its
stereotypes, but equipped, used, and rewarded them accordingly. In that sense, too, myth
is reality. 20 Hence while the Column’s exotic bias may unduly highlight some features,
by and large the warriors of Trajan’s strike force must have looked like the Column
portrays them.
Indeed, criticism of the Column’s accuracy can prove risky. Scholars have faulted the
reliefs for giving horsemen oval rather than six-cornered shields, but a survey of
horsemen carved on gravestones (whose reliefs are rather close to reality in such matters)
shows that most of their shields were oval, just as the Column portrays them. 21 For good
reasons the reliefs of Trajan’s Column are our main source.
Germanic tribesmen in Roman armies
The emperor’s strike force in scene 36 of Trajan’s Column consists mainly of Trajan’s
horse guard, the Equites Singulares Augusti, his most highly trained elite troops. Trajan
raised the unit himself, mainly from the Batavi and other Germanic tribes in the Roman
Empire. Since his horse guard bore the name Batavi, as did Augustus’ horse guard before
them, Trajan, like Augustus, must have considered the Batavi to be what Tacitus called
them: the manliest Germani. Chosen from horsemen who served in the alae, they stood
above the horsemen of the cohorts in height, weaponry, skill, and prestige. Some of the
horsemen in scene 36 may be meant to represent regular cavalry alae, but there is no
telling to which of the many alae they belonged. 22
It is even harder to know the units of the foot soldiers, for first-century Germanic
auxiliaries of the cohorts are hard to distinguish from tribal irregulars. Scholars were right
to take the men on the upper left of scene 36 to be soldiers of regular auxiliary cohorts as
they wear standard mailshirts. Judged by their wolf-hoods alone, these men could be
either Germani or free Celts from northern Britain. Yet by the end of the first century AD
most of the allies and auxiliaries who fought Rome’s battles in Europe were Germani
rather than Celts. Moreover, as we will see, bear-warriors were a Germanic rather than a
Celtic style, and four warriors in this scene wear crossband helmets that are related to
Germanic Vendel helmets, while the bare-chested troops further to the right wear
typically Germanic dress. Being warriors in bear- and wolf-hoods, yet wearing Roman
cuirasses, the men could belong to such elite units as cohort I and II milliaria Batavorum.
The altar at Adamklissi, on which the fallen of this campaign are listed, names the latter
unit. 23
With mixed Roman and Germanic battle gear, Trajan’s soldiers in scene 36 match
archaeological finds in the Roman province of Lower Germany, where forts and graves
with mixed Roman and Germanic weaponry—and drinking horns—have come to light.
Auxiliaries of Lower Germany were recruited on both sides of the Rhine, as shown by
names like Assuarius and Halucus that derive from the tribal names Chassuarii and
Chauci. 24 Although they kept some of their tribal battle gear, the men in the upper left of
scene 36 are thus nevertheless likely to be regular Roman auxiliaries. 25
Further proof of the trustworthiness of scene 36 is the portrayal of warriors wearing
wolf-pelts with narrow paws as different from others wearing bear-pelts with broad paws.

Introduction 7
Nowhere else in antiquity do we hear of wolf-warriors and bear-warriors fighting
together. But in AD 872, Thorbjorn Hornklofi depicts Germanic wolf- and bear-warriors
fighting side by side: they line the flagship of King Harald Fairhair of Norway in the
battle of Hafrsfjord. It is astonishing to find in a work of Roman art the same two kinds
of animal warriors that 800 years later stalk through a skaldic poem as úlfheðnar (wolfhood
wearers) and berserkir (bear-shirt wearers; later: any furious warrior). Hornklofi’s
poem shows that these two warrior styles existed together and that in this the Column
portrays them accurately. 26
To judge from their bare chests, the tribesmen in the upper right of scene 36 are
likewise Germanic. 27 The foot soldiers in the middle are trousered clubmen, and a wearer
of a sleeveless shirt of whom we know for certain that he is a German, for the
ambassador of the Buri alliance in scene 9 of the Column wears the same kind of shirt.
Both therefore belong to the same nation, no doubt the Armilausi (“The Sleeveless”), so
named after their battle garb. 28
The presence of such tribesmen does not surprise, for Germanic tribal warriors often
joined imperial field armies. 29 Those depicted here were drawn from the expeditionary
army of Trajan’s summer campaign in Transylvania, which had just ended. This is certain
for the club-men whom scene 24 shows fighting in that campaign, and it is likely for the
others as well. 30
Wearing different dress, the club-man and the man in the sleeveless shirt of scene 36
belong to different tribes. Putting sundry tribes next to each other was good tactics, for
men from different tribes fighting side by side strove to outdo each other. Besides, they
could fight well alongside as they shared similar warrior styles. 31
Yet other men are the nearly naked foot soldiers farthest to the right and nearest the
emperor. They seem to be Trajan’s Pedites Singulares, guardsmen he had when he was
governor of Roman Germany, as we will argue in the chapter on berserks.
Scene 36 underscores the light weapons, the breakneck speed, and fierceness of the
troops Trajan mustered to meet the threat to Roman Moesia. The troops around him had
to fight the bloodiest battle of the war. How did he choose them? He needed fast, keen,
well-trained men. Caesar and Tacitus, like Trajan, considered Germanic warriors the
fastest, keenest, most skillful fighters to be had. 32 And their huge frames and fierce looks
cast dread into the enemy. 33 These, surely, are the reasons why Trajan chose so many
Germanic troops for his strike force. The slower legionaries and praetorians, who
accompanied him on the river journey and reappear for the final battle at Tropaeum
Traiani in scene 40, are by design missing in the hurried overland march depicted in
scene 36. 34
The make-up of Trajan’s strike force is traditional in that Romans often brigaded
regular Germanic auxiliaries with irregular troops as fast and firstwave shock troops.
They did this in AD 28 against the Frisians, when they sent their speediest troops, the
horsemen of ala Canninefatium and irregular Germani foot, to hit the foe first, and again
in AD 50 against the plundering Chatti, and again in the civil war of AD 69–70, when
Batavian cohorts served as shock troops alongside tribesmen from beyond the Rhine.
Batavi brigaded with other tribesmen were thus a tried and trusted combination. Even
Lucanus’ poetic scare of Caesar’s army overrunning Rome lists “barbarian” cavalry
auxilia and tribesmen from beyond the Rhine among the invader’s forces. 35 There is no
way of knowing how many tribesmen were in Trajan’s strike force, but it would take at

Ancient Germanic warriors 8
least a thousand regulars and another thousand irregulars each to have operational impact
or warrant the emperor himself leading the force to a new theater of war. The horse guard
too was a thousand strong. 36
The presence of Germanic guards, auxilia, and tribesmen in the emperor’s strike force
gives one pause. Trajan’s reign marks the high point of the Empire, by which time long
peace had broken the warlike spirit of the Roman heartland and even the provinces.
Crack troops had thus to be raised in lands at or beyond the borders, where men were still
warlike. Though Tacitus put the claim that foreigners are the only strength of Roman
armies into the mouth of an enemy of Rome, the composition of Trajan’s army at the
height of the Empire nevertheless bears that claim out and foreshadows Rome’s fall,
which came when her field armies were overwhelmingly tribal. The history of the Empire
depended on where it raised its troops. 37
Could Trajan marshal motley groups of outlanders into an effective fighting force? It
had been done before: in 48 BC Labienus welded Gallic and Germanic horsemen into
such a force, arming, mounting, and training them himself. They responded with skill,
dauntlessness, and loyalty as long as there was hope of winning. Caesar’s Germanic
horse guard, hired on the spot in Gaul, must have been more foreign than Roman in
equipment, tactics, and morale. Trajan’s bare-chested warriors and club-wielders, even
though truly tribal, were commanded by Roman officers, as was customary during the
High Empire. His barefooted berserks, if indeed Singulares guards of Roman Germany,
combined Roman discipline with their own, older ethos of keeping faith. It was this ethos
that allowed Trajan to lead a Germanic strike force of mixed origin that must have been
harder to keep in order than regular auxiliary troops. Besides, being chosen by the
emperor for this mission must have swelled the warriors’ pride and strengthened their
bond with him. 38
If that was not enough, the regulars of Trajan’s horse guard of the Equites Singulares
Augusti gave him means to stiffen the discipline of his tribal forces. The combination of
imperial guard and irregulars was a winner: Caracalla relied on it, as did Aurelian; and
Constantine added to his regular guard, the schola Scutariorum, a tribal counterpart, the
schola Gentilium. Theodosius too kept discipline among tribal warriors with the help of
his horse guard, and King Harald of Norway in AD 872 likewise had a regular bodyguard
besides his berserks. 39
Trajan had further reason to recruit tribesmen from beyond the Rhine. When he set out
for the Dacian war, he had but a weak garrison to leave on the Rhine frontier. The best
way for him to keep tribes beyond the river from raiding the weakened provinces was to
take the tribes’ finest warriors along. Some of Trajan’s club-men and naked berserks may
thus have been Chatti and Mattiaci from beyond the Rhine, known for their fighting
prowess.
As Germanic tribesmen were essential to Roman field armies before and after Trajan,
their presence in scene 36 of the Column is to be expected, even though the scene is often
overlooked in studies of Germanic troops in the Roman army. We will return to it again
and again for the rich insights it offers on ancient Germanic warriors. 40

Part 1
ANIMAL WARRIORS

1
WOLVES
Wolf-warriors howled and shook weapons.
Thorbjorn Hornklofi, Haraldskvœði
Indo-European wolf-warriors
The idea of changing into an animal gripped the imagination of early man the world
over—Agamemnon, Plato says, wanted to become an eagle, Ajax a lion, Orpheus a
swan—and it works its metaphoric magic even today. Stone Age hunters felt the spell of
animal sympathy and the altered state of mind that comes with it: in Aurignacian cavewall
paintings of 60,000 years ago, men wear animal masks not only to stalk prey but to
identify with their ancestors in dances. A cave-dweller in southern Germany 34,000 years
ago carved a lion-headed human figure in ivory. E.O.Wilson said: “We are not just afraid
of predators, we are transfixed by them, prone to weave stories and fables and chatter
endlessly about them, because fascination creates preparedness, and preparedness,
survival. In a deeply tribal sense, we love our monsters.” 1 With such animal sympathy he
who “was” a predator was a keener warrior.
Warriors world-wide found their symbols in awesome aspects of nature: thunder,
storm, and lightning, steadiness of mountain roots, rip of rivers, sturdiness of trees, and
flight of birds. 2 Yet they liked toothed animals best, for unlike other thrills of nature,
animals could be more than symbols: one could identify with them. Libyans had belted
dog-warriors; Black Africans had lion-, leopard-, and panther-warriors; Aztecs puma-,
jaguar-, and wolf-warriors; Caribs and Chinese had tiger-warriors; Romans lion-guards.
As late as the twentieth century, Austro-Hungarian guard officers wore leopard skins. 3
Identifying with such animals not only gave a rich, transforming experience, but the very
origin of war and male pride has been traced to mankind’s mesolithic change from prey
to predator. 4
Indo-European warriors, from Vedic Indians and Iranians to Celts and Germani, were
greatly given to animal identities. Homer often describes the fighting excellence and
character of a hero by likening him to a lion, a boar, or an eagle, much as the poetry of
island Celts expresses their warrior spirit in terms of the animal world. Classical Greeks
and Romans held on to some of this spirit: to characterize the armies of Alexander the
Great or Julius Caesar as the keenest of warriors, Arrian could do no better than say they
fought like wild animals. Clearly, Indo-Europeans (and not only they) kept some of their
former roles as they moved from primitive to archaic, and, in the case of Greece and
Rome, to “civilized” warfare. 5
Wolves played a great role as warrior models throughout Eurasia and North America:
wolf-warriors appear among Indo-Europeans, Turks, Mongols, and American Indians.

Wolves 11
New World Indians brought from Siberia not only shamanism and wolf-ancestor myths,
but, it seems, also wolf-, bear-, bird-, and big-cat warriordom. 6 They sent forth wolfwarriors
as scouts, and even patterned their warfare on wolflike spying:
It is interesting to note that Wolf in one form or another was the patron
spirit of war all over the Plains. He was primarily the genius of the
intelligence service, the ruthless, crafty, cautious hunter. This may well be
taken as symbolic of all Plains, or of all American Indian warfare. Its
prototype was the shrewd stalker and, as Wolf’s depredations depended
upon intelligence, the Indians hunted men in the same manner. The
service of intelligence was the one branch of their art of war which was
perfectly developed. 7
The best way to identify with an animal is to don its pelt: a mid-sixteenth-century
drawing shows a Mexican Cuetlachtli warrior wearing a wolf-hood, much like Indo-
European wolf-warriors. Since wearing the animal’s skin is essential to animal-warrior
styles, it is of great interest to see this done in the New World no less than in the Old.
Both American and European folk tales speak of people being changed into wolves by
wearing wolfskins, and of being freed from shape-shifting by burning the skins. 8
Animals, especially wolves, offered much to the warrior bent on going beyond the
bounds of his humanity: he could walk, jump, or run as the chosen animals did; also hide,
creep, lurk, scream, bray, and howl as they did—wolves often howl in triumph at a kill—
and in all he could frighten the enemy while venting his own fear. He could take on an
animal’s rage, dread, or pride and thus free himself of cultural constraints or conscience
(much as modern warriors do when they focus on technology). Moreover, with their
power to change into animals and travel to other worlds, shamans gave wolf- and bearwarriordom
a cosmic dimension. 9
Wolves and hyenas, almost alone among animals, fight in packs—as if going to war.
Fiercely baring their teeth, with eyes flashing danger, howling dreadfully, and biting
through their prey’s windpipe, they are the most gripping warrior animals. 10
From wolves warriors learned stealth. As a wolf-man of our own time puts it:
The wolves moved deftly and silently in the woods and in trying to imitate
them I came to walk more quietly and to freeze at the sign of slight
movement. At first this imitation gave me no advantage, but after several
weeks I realized I was becoming far more attuned to the environment we
moved through. I heard more, for one thing, and my senses now
constantly alert, I occasionally saw a deer mouse or a grouse before they
did… I could attune myself better to the woods by behaving as they did—
minutely inspecting certain things, seeking vantage points, always sniffing
at the air. I did, and felt vigorous, charged with alertness. 11
Good camouflage, wolfskins allowed scouts to hide. Homer tells of the Trojan night-spy
Dolon hiding under a wolfskin, and Euripides embellishes the tale:

Ancient Germanic warriors 12
I will draw a wolf skin over my back,
put the beast’s gaping jaws around my head,
fasten the forelegs to my hands
its legs to mine, and mimic the four-footed
wolf-gait, hard to spot for the foes.
Euripides, whose Dolon walks on all fours like a wolf, stresses the stealth that the
wolfskin grants. In Greek, Etruscan, and Gallic myths, a wolf-hood makes one
invisible. 12
Speed is another astounding quality of wolves. They trot unflaggingly, lightly, and
quickly—easily 50 miles a day. Homer’s wolf-warrior Dolon was a fast runner. Young
and swift, wolf-warriors often served as scouts and skirmishers. 13 Wolves, moreover, far
outdo man in fieldcraft: they are the easy masters of the woods, the wild, the winter, and
the night, all frightening and uncanny to man.
Of all wild animals, wolves are closest to man in social instincts. They respect rank,
delight in each other’s company, and are so dedicated to the pack that the Hittite king
Hattusilis told his assembly, “May your clan be one, like that of the wolves!” As dogs
they are eager and faithful beyond words. Wild wolves have even suckled and raised
human children. No other animal engages man’s feelings so strongly. It has rightly been
said that what links men who love wolves with those who loathe them is the intensity of
their feelings. 14
Wolf-warriors are the best-documented Indo-European warrior style, originating long
before and lasting long after the Indo-European dispersal. They are found far more often
than bear-, boar-, buck-, marten-, horse- or any other animal-warriors. In the second
millennium BC, when our sources begin to flow, wolf-warriors are already well attested.
A Hittite army leader bore the name Lupakku (“Wolf”), and since Indo-European animal
names bespoke strength and luck, he very likely was a wolf-warrior. Likewise the name
of the Hittite Luvians means “Wolf-People”: Hittite texts call them LU-MESH UR-BAR-
RA, “Men-Dog-Outside.” 13
Vedic India too had skin-clad wolf-warriors: Rudra, with his wolves Bhava and Śarva
and with a warband of eleven long-haired Rudriyas, haunted the woods. Other early wolfwarriors
are the mairyo youths of ancient Iran: as a warrior band they were called
“wolves” and fought in a frenzy, though it is not known whether they wore wolfskins.
Scythians also fought as wolf-warriors, some of their youths being “valiant dogs.” 16
Mycenaeans very likely had wolf-warriors. A painted krater from Tiryns of about
1200 BC shows four warriors on foot, two before a chariot and two behind it. All four are
armed with small round shields and javelins much like Egyptian Shardana chariot runners
of the time. “The pointed crests on their heads,” it is said, “may represent a cap-helmet of
some kind”; the tails between their legs are very likely tails of an animal skin. The men
have been taken for tiger-warriors, but there were no tigers in ancient Greece. Indo-
European parallels and Homeric wolf-sympathy suggest that they are wolf-warriors. If so,
wolf-warriors may have played a role in the chariot-based Indo-European expansion of
the mid-second millennium BC. Chariot crews needed runners beside them to capture or

Wolves 13
finish off enemy charioteers. Fleet-footed young wolf-warriors could have played this
tactical role. Some Mycenaeans seem to have had wolf-names. 17
Homer too tells of wolf-warriors. He sees heroes such as Hector, Diomedes, and
Achilles as at times overcome by fighting madness; that is, in the throes of “wolfishness,”
a state akin to berserk recklessness. Speed, stealth, and fighting madness characterized
Greek wolf-warriors, but Achilles’ captains flaunted wolfishness also as a leadership
quality:
Hungry as wolves that rend and bolt raw flesh,
hearts filled with battle-frenzy that never dies—
off on the cliffs, ripping apart some big antlered stag
they gorge on the kill till all their jaws drip red with blood,
then down in a pack they lope to a pooling, dark spring,
their lean sharp tongues lapping the water’s surface,
belching bloody meat, but the fury, never shaken,
builds inside their chests though their glutted bellies burst—
so wild the Myrmidon captains…
In Sparta, warrior training was the work of Lykurgos, the “Wolf-Worker.” Lykurgos laid
down a law that for a year (the “Krypteia”) young warriors must hide and live outside
society, fending for themselves as naked, lone wolves. Elsewhere in Greece, Apollo the
Wolf-God presided over the training of young warriors. 18
Indo-European tribesmen brought the wolf-warrior style to Italy as well as Greece.
Vergil says that the warriors who founded Praeneste wore wolf-hoods and fought with
the left foot bare—a sign of skill, toughness, and recklessness. The Hirpi Sorani wolfwarriors
from north of Rome, like later berserks, could not be hurt by fire: very likely
they fought in a trance of ecstacy that made them woundproof. 19
The wolf-warriors of Romulus founded Rome, and centuries later in the battles against
Hannibal the legions still had in their ranks velites, young men who fought in the
forefront and wore wolfskins. 20 As the sight of a wolf was an omen of victory to later
Germanic warriors, so it was to early Romans: when a wolf ran through their battle line at
Sentinum in 295 BC, Roman warriors welcomed it with shouts as the winning wolf of
Mars. By the time of Marius, however, Rome had lost her wolf-warriors.
Among Celts in Gaul, wolves, and dogs bred from wolves, enthralled warriors. Celtic
names like Cunopennus, Cunocennus, and Cunobarrus all mean “dog-head” or “wolfhead”;
that is, men who fought with dog or wolf-skins over their heads. Very likely they
looked like the Germanic wolf-warriors portrayed on Trajan’s Column. 21
Wolf-warriors on Trajan’s Column
The oldest known Germanic wolf-warriors are depicted in scene 36 of Trajan’s Column.
Surprisingly, no twentieth-century archaeologist, historian, or student of Germanic

Ancient Germanic warriors 14
antiquities knew them, even though in 1896 Cichorius in his outstanding commentary on
Trajan’s Column identified the warriors in scene 36 as Germanic. 22 Yet they are plain to
see (Figure 1.1).
On the relief, eight soldiers of the emperor’s strike force wear Roman auxiliary
uniforms: knee-breeches, tunics, mailshirts, and neckerchiefs. Their weapon of attack is
the sword, with which Batavi tribesmen were wont to fight and with which, when they
closed in for the shock attack, they stabbed their foes. 23 Unlike other regular auxiliaries
on the Column, however, these men sport strange headgear: four wear openwork
crossband helmets, two wear broad-pawed bearskins, two others narrow-pawed
wolfskins. Most of them are bearded, while most regular soldiers on the Column are
clean-shaven.
The wolfskins and bearskins seen here cover head and shoulders, leaving the arms
free, but one cannot see how far the skins reached down the back, nor whether they still
had tails as did those of Mycenaean and medieval wolf-warriors. Like Herakles, the
warriors on the Column fasten their skins over the chest by crossing and knotting the
animal’s forelegs, whereas wolf-warriors of the Middle Ages wore their wolfskins as
jackets with openings for the arms. It is hard to say whether here the Column artist
modified Germanic reality to fit the classical model or whether Germanic auxiliaries,
Figure 1.1 Warriors on Trajan’s
Column wearing wolfskins, bearskins
and crossband helmets (detail of
Figure 0.2). Photo: Deutsches
Archäologisches Institut, Rome, Inst.
Neg. 71.2685.
when donning mailshirts, changed their wolf-hood jackets to wolf-hoods with crossed
paws.

Wolves 15
Scholars have taken the wolfskin and bearskin wearers in scene 36 for Roman
standard-bearers, since these, too, wore animal skins and mailshirts. Yet the four warriors
are not in the lead and hold no standards but drawn swords. They are not standardbearers.
Wearing mailshirts, they are not legionaries either. Nor, lacking strip armor, are
they antesignani, who sometimes wore bearskin hoods. Their weapons, as we have seen,
mark them as regulars in Roman service, while their wolf- and bear-hoods mark them as
Germani. Being near the emperor, they are, tactically speaking, shock troops in the
emperor’s entourage and could even be part of his guard. 24
As ancient warrior styles were mythological, the wolf-warriors on Trajan’s Column,
together with the bear-warriors, club-wielders, helmet-wearers, and naked berserks of this
scene, are an outstanding addition to our knowledge of Germanic mythology. They stock
up what has been called the “relatively bare shelves of German heathen myth proper”
compared to the Icelandic tradition, 25 and thus, for their part, show ancient continental
Germanic mythology as the link between earlier Indo-European and later Icelandic
mythology.
Wolf-warriors of northern Europe have also left traces in wolf-standards and wolfshields,
seized by their Roman foes and enshrined as tokens of victory in the Flavian
armilustrium in Rome. Moreover, the famous Gundestrup cauldron, Germanic if it
belongs to the third century AD, otherwise Celtic, pictures a wolf presiding over a
warrior initiation; in either case, the cauldron bespeaks the warriors’ wolf-spirit and
nearness to the gods. 26
The wolf- and bear-warriors on Trajan’s Column had forerunners in Emperor
Vitellius’ army thirty years earlier, when pelt-wearing auxiliaries spearheaded the
emperor’s strike force during his march on Rome in AD 69-Racing ahead of the army,
the auxiliaries surged through the streets of the city, scaring people. “A wild show,
frightening with animal skins and huge weapons,” as Tacitus calls it. 27 It was mid-July
when no one wears fur in Rome—unless bound to do so. Vitellius’ warriors could have
worn linen, for the art of weaving flourished in their homeland. Instead they wore
warrior-style furs, no doubt wolfskins and bearskins. 28
In ancient times the whole youth of a tribe or a chosen outcast group may have been
wolf-warriors. Under the more settled conditions of the early Middle Ages, however,
wolf- and bear-warriors were individual champions, often no more than twelve men, at
times in the service of a king. 29 Were the wolf-warriors on Trajan’s Column youthful
tribal troops or individual champions? The Column portrays them wearing mailshirts and
fighting with swords, as they did in the early Middle Ages. Since mailshirts slow men
down, such men would have shared with wolves not so much speed but fierceness, and
Trajan’s wolf-warriors may already have made the transition from youthful tribal
warriors to elite champions.
On the other hand, being troops close to the emperor and on the same level with other
units, Trajan’s wolf-warriors are likely to have been a battlefield force rather than a
handful of champions. Ancient battle descriptions mention no wolf-warriors: the most
that we hear is that Germani bore animal standards into battle. Perhaps animal-warriors
were always few, leading others. Yet Greek and Roman authors so rarely describe
northern troops that here the argument from silence counts for little. There is no telling,
then, how many wolf-warriors took the field with Trajan.

Ancient Germanic warriors 16
Firsthand evidence of wolf sympathy among Germanic tribes of Trajan’s time also
comes from names. The earliest known Germanic wolf name, one Ulfenus, appears on a
Trajanic inscription from Rimburg near Aachen, followed by one Ulfus, also from
Roman Germany. Some have wondered about the widespread use in Lower Germany of
the Latin name Ulpius, which to German ears sounded like “wolf.” Ulpius is, of course,
Trajan’s name, and for that reason alone would have been widely used in Lower
Germany. But Ulpius also meant “wolf” in older Latin, and the punning name Ulpius
Lupio suggests that the original meaning of Trajan’s name was still understood. Beyond
the Empire’s borders, a second-century runic inscription from Himlingøje in Denmark
names a Widuhu[n]daR (Woodhound—Wolf). Indo-European twin-root names such as
this were aristocratic wish-names: parents hoped their sons would be “wolves.” As with
dragons, people feared wolves, yet stood in awe of them and wanted to be like them. 30
Wilderness, with its animals, is the great background for, and shaper of, human
feelings, giving fulfillment that the twenty-first century seems to be losing. Wolfwarriors,
fighting beside Trajan in the Dacian war, imperial Rome’s greatest military
undertaking, are thus a striking instance of “biophilia,” reminding us of the hold that
wildlife has on the human mind and from which our spirit is woven. 31
Wolf-warriors in the later Roman army
Since we know from Trajan’s Column that Germanic wolf-warriors fought in the Roman
army in the first century AD, we may look for them also in the Roman army of the fourth
century, when many of its recruits came from Germanic lands beyond the Rhine and the
Danube. Indeed, wolf-warriors turn up in AD 361. In that year Emperor Julian raised
troops among the Franks and Alamanni: six new Auxilia Palatina units in three pairs. He
named one pair “Tubantes-Salii,” after two Frankish tribes. To the other two pairs he
gave non-tribal names: “Grati-Augustei” and “Felices-Invicti.” Of these latter pairs, three
units, and perhaps originally all four, bore images of bucks or wolves on their shields, as
seen in the late-Roman government handbook the Notitia Dignitatum (Figure 1.2). 32
The last two badges of the second row in Figure 1.2 (Grati, Felices), and the last badge
of the third row (Augustei) show wolves or hounds. Such shield badges proclaimed the
units to be wolf- or hound-warriors. By allowing these shield badges, Julian welcomed
wolf-warriors among Rome’s elite troops. Like Trajan, he must have valued their fighting
skills and wanted them to strengthen his army. He may not have known or cared whether
they were warg-wolf outlaws, the youths of a tribe, or the warband of a king: 33 as wolfwarriors,
flaunting wolf-shield badges, they cast dread into the hearts of foes and strength
into their own, for both Romans and Germani knew the fierceness of animal-warriors. 34
Here, as with Trajan’s wolf-warriors, a large number of men was needed: no less than a
thousand men to form three or more Auxilia Palatina units. Perhaps only the leaders were
true wolf-warriors in the medieval sense of champions.
Some of the shield badges in Figure 1.2 may portray hounds rather than wolves, but
the meaning is almost the same. Discipline and loyalty made hounds particularly useful in
fighting. Thracians and Celts bred fighting dogs, war-hounds defended the laager of the
Cimbri, and Pliny the Elder called dogs “the most faithful allies even without pay.” Like
wolves, hounds were symbolic warrior animals and are found as such among Indo-

Wolves 17
Europeans. Several Greek and Celtic warriors wore hound-topped helmets. The tribal
name of the Dacians means “Wolves” or “Hounds”; and, like Sarmatians, they followed
hound-dragon standards. Among Germanic nations at the beginning of our era the fiercest
Longobards fought as mad hounds, and aristocratic Lombard hound-warriors are still
known in the Middle Ages. Hence
Figure 1.2 Shield badges of Auxilia
Palatina units in the Notitia
Dignitatum. Drawing after Seeck,
Notitia 1876, 116 (Oc.V).
if some of the shield badges in Figure 1.2 portray hounds, the symbolism is nearly the
same as that of wolves. 35 Shared animal sympathy gave wolf- or hound-warriors a bond
among each other, making them better fighters. 36

Ancient Germanic warriors 18
Wolves or hounds, Julian welcomed such warriors in the Roman army. To win men
like this for the Auxilia Palatina attack troops, Rome offered them higher pay than
legionaries, less drudgery work—and less discipline. 37
Wolf-Hrocs and the origin of the Alamanni
Julian’s wolf-warriors, raised among Germani along the Rhine, may shed light on the
name of the two earliest known Alamannic kings. Hroc the Elder, who harried Gaul in
AD 260, was long held to be legendary. However, scholars who take written sources
seriously have given him back his rightful place in history. Hroc the Younger, leader of
an Alamannic troop in the army of Constantius Chlorus, lifted Constantine to the throne
in York in AD 306. His name was formerly misread as a meaningless Erocus, but a new
reading of Aurelius Victor’s manuscripts has restored it to Crocus; that is, Germanic
Hroc. 38
Hroc with a short o means “cape,” or “fur-cape” (English “frock,” German “Frack”
and “Rock”). Since in Old Germanic names the simple word often stands for the
compound, Hroc may well stand for the better-known Wolfhroc (“Wolf-Frock”), a
warrior wearing a wolfskin hood and jacket. 39 This is borne out by the parallels of
Trajan’s wolf-warriors and Julian’s wolf-auxilia units, as well as by the name Vidigabius
of a fourth-century Alamannic king that also means “Wolf.” 40 It is further strengthened
by seventh-century metal foils depicting Alamannic leaders as wolf-warriors (Figures 1.3,
1.4) and by the fact that in the eighth century, when we have richer sources, the Alamanni
used wolf-names more widely than other nations. Like Hroc, Indo-European and
Germanic kings were often wolf-warriors. 41
Warriors could have the same heraldic sign as their leader: wearing a boar-helmet,
Beowulf was a boar-warrior, and so were his followers. Hroc’s Alamannic followers thus
may have been wolf-warriors like their king. Certainly the wolf shield-badges of Julian’s
Auxilla Palatina mean that the men in those units were wolf-warriors, and they are likely
to have been Alamanni. 42
If the Alamanni had wolf-warriors among them, as the above suggests, light falls on
their hitherto unknown myth of origin. Indo-Europeans, Turks, Mongols, and American
Indians alike believed that warlike nations arose from wolf ancestors. Their myths held
that wolf-kings had led them to their homelands, and that as outcasts of mixed origin they
once lived by robbery. This may be the myth of origin of the Alamanni too, for not only
had wolf-warriors and robber-kings led the Alamanni to their homeland in southern
Germany, but the name of the new nation shows that they conform to the other part of
this myth, the mixed origin, as well. The Alamanni, like the heirs of Romulus and Remus,
knew themselves as a people who “came together from everywhere.” They called
themselves “all-men” in contrast to the kindred Iuthungi, whose name means “the [true]
offspring” and who, unlike the Alamanni, claimed that they were not “mixed.” 43
No nation, it has been said, calls itself “mixed.” Yet the word “Alamanni,” which the
new nation took for its name, is the same as that applied to the Romans of Romulus, to
the wolf-warriors who founded Praeneste, and to the Lucani of the fourth century BC:
“mixed, rag-tag.” By calling themselves “mixed,” the Alamanni took pride in their

Wolves 19
robber- and wolf-warrior origin. In line with a time-honored Indo-European myth, they
recalled their founders as wolfish outlaws who raised a new nation. 44
Other Germanic tribes, too, claimed to stem from such forebears. Closest to the
Alamanni in this are the Lombards, who as youths likewise left their homes to find new
lands. Paulus Diaconus says:
They were then all youths in their bloom, although very few, since they
had come from one-third only of a not so large island.—They said they
had cynocephali in their army, that is men with dog heads. And among
their foes they spread the tale that these fought very fiercely, drank human
blood, and, if they could not lay their hands on an enemy, drank their own
blood. 45
Lombard hound-warriors can be traced from the beginning of our era to Dante’s great
warrior Can Grande of Verona (1312–1329) and beyond. The myth of youths, sent away
with elite wolf- or hound-warriors to win new lands, still lived at the time of the medieval
Icelandic Volsung saga: Sigi, founder of the Volsungs, is an outlaw wolf, exiled with a
warband with whom he founds a new kingdom. Later Sigmund and Sinfiotli find two
sons of kings (marked as such by their heavy golden wristbands) who lived as wolfwarriors
in the woods, wore wolfskins, and sucked blood from their victims. 46 The myth
still echoes in the Wolfdieterich epic of thirteenth-century Germany. 47
It has been overlooked, so far, that Lombards and Alamanni were wolf- or dogwarriors
precisely because they left their tribes and homelands as young men. That was
an Indo-European and perhaps world-wide custom. 48 In classical Greece, in historical
times, Arcadians had a band of youthful “wolves” living as outcasts. Likewise the Brettii
in southern Italy were young wolfish outcasts of the Lucani (“Wolf-Men”). They too
were “brought-together” herdsmen, mixed with runaway slaves, and lived from robbery
while conquering new land. So were the founders of Praeneste: wolf-warriors who had
lived by robbery before they founded their town and who afterwards stayed wolfwarriors.
All these groups, like Romulus’ youthful wolf-warriors, were bands of young
men, outlaws, banished from their tribes. 49 The myth of the Lombard youths has a close
link with that of the first Romans in that their leaders, Ibor and Agio, were youthful twins
with alliterative names like Romulus and Remus—and like Hengest and Horsa of Anglo-
Saxon tradition. We hear nothing of the Alamanni being youths or having twin leaders—
the details of their myth are lost—but with their “come-together” origin, their wolfwarriors,
and their living by robbery, they seem indeed to have shared this type of myth. 50
Caesar tells how such bands of raiders got together:
Robbery is no shame if done beyond the borders of the tribe, and they say
they do it to train the young and to lessen the sloth. And when one of the
leaders in an assembly says that he would lead, and that those who wanted
to follow should say so, those who find the plan and the man good rise up.
They promise their help and the crowd praises them; those of them who
afterwards do not follow are held deserters and traitors, and no one trusts
them in anything any more. 51

Ancient Germanic warriors 20
To get more men for such a band, a leader might recruit outside the tribe too. Tacitus
says, and Bede confirms, that whenever war broke out between Germanic nations, young
noblemen flocked to join in. But not only athelings gathered around warlike leaders: riffraff,
even outlaws, did so too, and were welcome, as in the cases of Romulus and Remus,
the Lucani, or Celtic and Germanic warbands. 52
The “All-Men” name of the Alamanni gave rise in the nineteenth century to a belief
that they had been a confederation somewhat like the Germany that had arisen from the
Napoleonic wars. But “all-men” does not imply a federation. Instead, it suggests warriors
come together from everywhere, individually and in groups, for raiding. Some groups
may have come with their own leaders, whence by the mid-fourth century the Alamanni
had many kings. 53 The fact that their “come-together” origin became the basis of their
name suggests that the myth of the Alamanni’s origin paralleled that of Rome, as their
wolf-warrior kings paralleled Romulus.
The Gutenstein wolf-warriors
Unlike Germanic wolf-warriors of antiquity who escaped the attention of historians
throughout the twentieth-century, those of the early Middle Ages, known from
archaeological and literary sources, have always been in sight. Yet they need to be better
understood.
Of several early medieval wolf-warrior images that have come to light in Alamannia
and Bavaria, the most revealing is embossed on the upper part of a silver foil that covered
the seventh-century scabbard found at Gutenstein. Less than half of the die-impression is
preserved (Figure 1.3). 54
The image shows a wolf-warrior with a very large sword and a spear. His wolf-hood,
unlike those on Trajan’s Column, hides the warrior’s head altogether. Since this is so on
other medieval images too (Figures 1.6 and 1.7), it seems to have been the way wolfhoods
were worn at the time.
Parallel lines on the warrior’s head, back, and tail mark fur, while the curved, dotted
band running down the chest toward the tail represents the hem of the pelt. A band
fastens the hood around the warrior’s neck. As the wolf-skins on Trajan’s Column cover
no more than half the warriors’ backs, the same seems to be true of the Gutenstein
warriors. The tail, beginning at the height of the warrior’s hip, suggests that the skin ends
there; indeed, a wolfskin of natural length would stretch not much further than a warrior’s
hip. 55
The warrior’s shoes bend upward at the tip and swell in a ring at the ankle, features
known from other seventh-century shoes. Faint lines indicate narrow trouser legs. The
arms seem bare. On the Ekhammar bronze, discussed on pp. 33–4 (Figure 1.7), the pelt
hood has openings for the arms, and that may be the case on the Gutenstein scabbard
also, though the openings are not seen.

Wolves 21
Figure 1.3 Seventh-century silver
scabbard from Gutenstein, Baden-
Württemberg. Antikensammlung,

Ancient Germanic warriors 22
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin—
Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Museum für
Vor- und Frühgeschichte Berlin-
Charlottenburg (Kat/Inv. IIc, 2830);
Museum photograph, Neg. Nr.
Unverzagt 69.
Since the square dots on the chest and below the hip mark material other than fur, the
Gutenstein warrior must have worn a shirt or a hauberk beneath his wolf-hood. A
hauberk is more likely, for the ring on the pommel of his sword marks the Gutenstein
warrior as of the highest rank, and such men wore hauberks. Like the auxiliary cuirasses
on Trajan’s Column, most hauberks in seventh-century Alamannia were made of chain
mail; and like the mailshirts used after the mid-third century in the Roman army, they
were knee- rather than waist-length. However, a few of the highest-ranking Alamanni
warriors, such as those buried at Niederstotzingen, wore lamellar cuirasses, and so, it
seems, does the Gutenstein warrior. If Alamannic wolf-warriors matched the mythical
hero on the Gutenstein scabbard, they were even better armored than Trajan’s wolfwarriors:
56 in the seventh century armies were smaller and more elite, turning into feudal
armies with elite weapons. 57
There is another wolf-warrior on the Gutenstein scabbard, standing in the lower right
corner at a right angle to the length of the scabbard. Only one fourth of him is preserved:
his two feet, the lower part of his hauberk, his wolf-tail, and the blade of his spear. There
is enough, however, to suggest that this left-facing warrior belonged to a scene like that
of Woden and the wolf-warrior on the Torslunda die (Figure 1.6).
Scholars who have examined the Gutenstein scabbard before the Russians stole it in
1945, observed that the silver foil is of one piece. 58 Since the foil shows only one-fourth
of this second warrior, and since he stands at a right angle to the upper one, scholars
thought that the foil once served some other purpose—perhaps as a cover of a box or a
bowl. But neither box nor bowl can use upright figures at right angles to each other. The
reason for the cutoff figure is much simpier: having cut the scabbard cover out of a piece
of silver foil, the craftsman used several dies to emboss it, though each die only in part.
This is most evident for the six small patterns in the middle of the scabbard, but it is also
true for the two wolf-warrior figures. 59
Since the upper, right-facing wolf-warrior was to be the main image on the scabbard,
the craftsman placed it upright near the top. All he wanted was the warrior himself, so he
cut off most of the decorative square below the warrior. Further down the scabbard the
artist needed a die that gave him a cross as the main feature. For this he used another
wolf-warrior die, one with a left-facing warrior. What mattered here was the cross, not
the warrior, hence most of the warrior is cut off: with the edge-covers in place, the
scabbard showed next to nothing of this second warrior. Since both wolf-warriors are so
much alike, their dies seem to have formed a corresponding pair. Both having the same
size and dress, and both holding spears and leaning slightly forward, the two warriors are
clearly counterparts to each other. The right-facing warrior, therefore, once stood, like the
left-facing one, above two decorative square fields.
Trying to reconstruct the original two dies, one notices that the wolf-warrior scenes
occupied broader fields than the crosses below them. This can be seen from the fact that

Wolves 23
if the right-hand border of the decorative field under the right-facing warrior continued
straight up, it would cut off the ring on the sword pommel. What at first may appear to be
the border at the right of this warrior is slanting so much that it must have been the spear
of a figure standing before the wolf-warrior, a figure like a mirror image of the dancing
Woden on the Torslunda die (Figure 1.6). 60
In reconstructing the overall shape of the Gutenstein wolf-warrior dies, one must take
into account the fact that the border at each warrior’s back is tilted forward on the ground
line. Both dies thus tapered toward the top, and therefore, like the Torslunda dies, were
made to produce decorations for curved surfaces. Since their motif is warfare they were
no doubt used for decorating objects used in warfare, in this case helmets, for similar
tapering scenes decorated seventh-century Vendel helmets. 61
If each Gutenstein wolf-warrior followed another figure—as does the Torslunda wolfwarrior
(Figure 1.6)—then the Gutenstein scenes had the same size as other scenes on
Vendel helmets. Applied to a helmet, the decorative fields below the Gutenstein warriors
would result in a double decorative band along the base. Since the helmet from grave 12
at Vendel has just such a band, the decorative fields on the Gutenstein dies also point to
their use for decorating Vendel-style helmets. I would therefore reconstruct the
Gutenstein scenes as in Figure 1.4. 62
Vendel helmets are, so far, known only from Scandinavia and England. None has
come to light in Alamannic lands yet, but they could well have been made and worn
there. Indeed, during the sixth and seventh centuries, Swedish and Alamannic art is so
closely linked that one may anticipate the finding of Vendel helmets among the
Alamanni. 63
The reconstruction of the Gutenstein dies (Figure 1.4) differs from an earlier one
suggesting that the two warriors should flank Woden on each side in a single, centered,
three-figure scene. Vendel helmets, however, have no such centered, three-figure scenes.
Instead they display corresponding two-figure scenes on the left and right front panels. Of
these, the Torslunda wolf-warrior die (Figure 1.6) is a very close parallel to the leftfacing
Gutenstein warrior. Our reconstruction of the Gutenstein panels is therefore
modeled after that die. 64
A clue to the meaning of the Gutenstein scenes is the right-facing wolf-warrior who
bows his head, drops his spear, and (with outsize thumb) offers his sword to Woden. The
god, if one may judge from the way he holds the spear, dances the war dance, spurring on
the warrior. 65
The image of Woden dancing before a wolf-warrior, found also on the Obrigheim foil
and on the Torslunda die (Figures 1.5, 1.6), must have

Ancient Germanic warriors 24
Figure 1.4 The Gutenstein dies
reconstructed. Drawing by author.
conveyed a widely known meaning and an essential role of Woden. If the Gutenstein
wolf-warrior scenes decorated Vendel-type helmets, they are likely to depict warriors or
champions coming to battle. All Vendel helmets decorated with such scenes show
warriors, sometimes five and more of the same kind, going or riding to a battle that is
shown symbolically on front of the helmet as war dance (Sutton Hoo), bear-binding
(Vendel 1), war dance and bear-binding (Valsgärde 7), or champions fighting (Vendel
14). 66 The Gutenstein wolf-warriors thus are likely to be champions going to battle (leftfacing)
or joining a warband by offering their weapons (right-facing), warbands often
being raised from high-ranking warriors. 67 What speaks for this latter interpretation is the
row of warriors depicted on the helmet of Vendel grave 14, all of whom offer their
swords and who, being many, cannot be heroes known by name, nor gods, for whom it is
not fitting to offer their weapons in token of subordination. 68 The Gutenstein wolfwarriors,
in short, were champions joining the helmet owner’s warband and going to
battle. 69
The Gutenstein and Obrigheim foils, like the Torslunda die (Figures 1.3–1.6), show
wolf-warriors to be Woden-worshipers. As such they could hope to reach Valhalla after
death and become heroes fighting on Woden’s side in the last battle at Ragnarök when
Woden himself might fight as a wolf-warrior. Their life and warriordom thus was
cosmically and mythologically meaningful. 70 It is nevertheless unlikely that the
Gutenstein wolf-warrior following Woden and offering his sword is a fallen warrior who
joins the god of death, for it seems untoward for a leader to advertise on his helmet that
death is in store for his men. 71 Self-dedication to Woden by no means meant imminent
death. 72

Wolves 25
As said before, wolf-names were characteristic of Alamanni warriors. This may have
to do with their coming to southern Germany as youthful bands of wolf-warriors—the
myth of their origin is likely to have been told for centuries and may have strengthened
their anti-Roman and heathen stance. Names like Wolfhroc (Woif-Frock”), Wolfhetan
(“Wolf-Hide”), Isangrim (“Grey-Mask”), and Scrutolf (“Garb-Wolf”) speak of wolfwarrior
dress and wolf-hood, while Wolfgang (“Wolf-Gait”) and Wolfdregil (“Wolf-
Runner”) stress the gait of warriors going to battle. 73 That gait can hardly have meant
speed of onrush, for wolf-warriors now wore hauberks that slow a man down. They may
have moved like wolves in other ways. The name Vulfblaic (“Wolf-Dancer”) suggests
that wolf-warriors did their own war dance, whether at ancestor festivals or when battles
began. If they danced wolf-like or in wolf-gait, they may, like Dolon, have mimicked
walking on all fours: the Greek name Lykormas (“Wolf-Gait”) also points to wolfwarriors
stepping like wolves. However they moved, one may say, with Mircea Eliade,
that “he who …could rightly imitate the behavior of animals—their gait, breathing, cries,
and so on—found a new dimension of life: spontaneity, freedom, ‘sympathy’ with all the
cosmic rhythms…ecstacy could…well be obtained by choreographic imitation of an
animal.” This may be one root of the wolf war dance, the other being representation of
wolf-warrior ancestors. From such twin ecstacy it is but a small step to mad attacks. 74
The ring on the sword pommel of the right-facing Gutenstein warrior shows that wolfwarriors
had lords or even kings in their ranks. Woden was the god of kings, and widely
worshiped among Germanic nations that fought their way into new homelands: Goths,
Lombards, and Anglo-Saxons. With their strong Woden worship—Gutenstein means
“Wodenstone”—the Alamanni fit into this picture. Their wolf shield badges discussed on
pp. 20–2 suggest that they worshiped Woden already by the fourth century AD. 75 It was
known that many Alamanni stayed heathen until the seventh century. 76 Now the
Gutenstein wolf-warriors show that even though Alamannia belonged to the nominally
Christian Merovingian kingdom, warband leaders still could, throughout the sixth
century, not only follow the old religion but flaunt it on their helmets of precious metal.
When the Alamanni became Christian, wolf-names no longer marked men as Woden
worshipers. But for centuries to come, such names still bespoke a warrior ethos. Names
such as Lingulf, Horscolf, Adrulf, Haistulf, Aistulf, Trasulf, Grasulf, Zangrulf, Biterolf,
Gradolf, Freki, Friculf, Leidulf and Agiulf, meant Fast, Battle-Mad, Hissing, Raging,
Biting, Greedy, Bold, Hated, and Frightful Wolf. 77
Wolf-warriors are known also from Bavaria. Two masked men on a silvered, seventhcentury
strap-end from Oberwarngau are wolf-warriors (Figure 11.4). 78 The strap-ends
come from belts that gave their wearers strength and that often bore “Heilsbilder” images
guarding the wearer and bringing him luck. Another Bavarian strap-end, almost a twin to
the one described and hence used in the same ceremonies, shows followers of Woden in
the twindragon headgear. In seventh-century Bavaria, as in Alamannia and Sweden, wolfwarriordom
thus went hand in hand with Woden-worship. Since elaborate belt fittings
were insignia of rank and made at court, they broadcast the Woden-worship and wolfwarriordom
of the Dukes of Bavaria. And like the Alamanni, their relatives, the
Bavarians, bore wolf-warrior names. 79
About the Franks we know less. In the fourth century AD, Libanius called wolfish
battle madness the outstanding trait of Frankish warriors. In or shortly after AD 497,
however, the Merovingian Franks became Christian, and Frankish wolf-warriordom

Ancient Germanic warriors 26
began to whither away. Writing about the endless fighting of southern and western
Franks during the sixth century, Bishop Gregory of Tours never mentions wolf-warriors.
Yet he does speak of a Duke Chedinus, whose name, like Alamannic Wolfhetan and
Nordic Ulfheðin, means “animal-hooded warrior.” In Chedinus, as in Hroc, the simple
word stands for the compound (here very likely Wolfhedin). Though by AD 590 his
name no longer bound Chedinus to Woden, it echoes wolf-warriordom among Franks, of
which we otherwise knew next to nothing, were it not for Pope Gregory the Great who in
AD 597 railed against Frankish cultic sacrifices done by men wearing animal heads. 80
A seventh-century silver foil found at Obrigheim in the Palatinate may also be
evidence of Frankish wolf-warriors and Woden-worship (Figure 1.5). 81
Figure 1.5 Wolf-warrior offering his
sword to Woden. Silver foil from
Obrigheim, Pfalz. Drawing after
Böhner, “Eschwege” 1991, 717, fig.
29.
On this foil, as on the Gutenstein scabbard, a wolf-warrior stands facing right, head
bowed, offering his sword and laying down his spear. Woden, wearing power belt and
headdress (perhaps the lone-dragon headdress as on the Års medallion, Figure 11.2)
dances before him, as he does before the right-facing Gutenstein warrior. 82 The traces
further right are too faint to interpret. Measuring only 1.75 by 3.5 cm, the Obrigheim foil
is too small for use on a Vendel helmet—perhaps it once decorated the browband of a
Spangenhelm or a lamellar helmet, where centered scenes belong. 83 Whether from a
helmet or not, the Obrigheim foil suggests that heathen warbands still existed in Francia
west of the Rhine around AD 600, which would be well in accord with what we
otherwise know of the Franks’ slow conversion to Christianity. 84
No Anglo-Saxon wolf-warriors have come to light yet, though such men doubtless
bestrode the battlefields of heathen England. In England wolf-sympathy was strong, as
can be seen from the royal insignia of Sutton Hoo (the golden wolf on the king’s staff;
the hero between two wolves on the king’s purse) and from the warriors’ expectation that

Wolves 27
wolves would howl before battle. 85 To Vedic Indians the wolf was the animal of Rudra,
to Romans the animal of Mars, to Germani the animal of Woden. This is why Geri and
Freki, the wolves at Woden’s side, also glowered on the throne of the Woden-sprung
Anglo-Saxon kings. Wolf-warriors, like Geri and Freki, were not mere animals but
mythical beings: as Woden’s followers they bodied forth his might, 86 and so did wolfwarriors.
Wolf-warriors in the north
In the north, where heathen religion flourished longest, the wolf-warrior style lasted
longer than elsewhere and is known best. From Torslunda on the Swedish island of Öland
comes a seventh-century bronze die that was used to emboss decorative images on metal
foils for Vendel helmets (Figure 1.6). 87
On the Torslunda die Woden, marked by his one eye, dances, wearing twin-dragon
headgear. It is not a helmet, for the “horns” clearly end in bird heads or snake heads, and
the left dragon also has a neckring. 88 The pointed “flaps” at the bottom of the headgear
might be the tails of the two dragons or else tresses of the god like those on the bracteate
amulets. The twin dragons do not derive from Mercury’s (= Woden’s) caduceus staff but
rather from “horned” helmets such as those found at Viksø in Denmark, Woden wears
this headgear for the war dance. 89 The scene looks like a detail of the battle shown on the
Oseberg wall-hanging (Figure 11.5), where Woden and his animal warriors lead the
shield wall of the warriors at Bråvalla. Its meaning thus may be “Woden leads the wolfwarrior
to battle.”
Roused by Woden’s dance, the wolf-warrior beside him draws his sword, not, as has been
said, to threaten the god but to follow him, for both move in the same direction, not
against each other, and the spear of the wolf-warrior avoids the dancer’s foot. Only the
god dances, not the wolf, hence the god rouses the warrior. Perhaps the wolf-warrior too
will begin to dance, as the warrior name Vulfolaic (Wolf-dancer) suggests. 90
The wolf-warrior bears on his shoulder a very short and very thick, aristocratic spear
like that of the war leaders Egil and Thorolf, described in Egils saga as only three feet
long. Woden seems to wield more regular weapons whose lengths reach beyond the
frame of the scene: a heavy lance and a lighter throwing spear, as do other war dancers. 91
The wolf-pelt worn by the Torslunda warrior, like that of the Gutenstein warriors, does
not reach his knees: a horizontal line, rising toward the tail, sets the fur off from the
hauberk underneath. Like the medieval wolf-masks from Gutenstein and Ekhammar, the
one from Torslunda fully masks the warrior but bares the wolf’s teeth, the signal among
wolves that they are ready to fight. Unlike the meek right-facing Gutenstein warrior, the
left-facing Torslunda wolf follows Woden into battle, as shown by his drawing his sword
and baring his teeth (as in Figure 1.7).

Ancient Germanic warriors 28
Figure 1.6 Woden with twin-dragon
headgear followed by a wolf-warrior
drawing his sword. Bronze die from
Torslunda, Öland. Statens Historiska
Museen, Stockholm, inv. no. 4325;
photograph ATA.
The Torslunda image, so much like that from Gutenstein, shows that, in the sixth and
seventh centuries, heathen Germanic countries from Alamannia to Sweden shared the
same art, especially in Vendel-helmet decoration; very likely they were also linked by
marriage bonds among the leading families. Wolf-warrior names like Hetan/Hedin and
Wolfhetan/Ulphedan further link Alamannic wolf-warriors to those in Scandinavia.
Names as well as images thus show that northern and southern Germanic lands shared
warrior styles and heroic myths. 92
Like Alamannic and Bavarian wolf-warriors, Norse úlfheðnar were Woden’s men,
hence whoever joined a wolf-band became not a mere wolf but a mythical being, reliving
the time when the gods walked on earth. Any fierce warrior might be a “wolf,” but a true
wolf-warrior wore a wolfskin and howled like a wolf to meld with the beast. 93
The eighth-century Old English poem Deor speaks of Heodeningas, and the Widsith
has Heoden ruling Glomman (Barkers). Heodeningas or Hiadnings were thus dog- and
wolf-warriors who followed Heoden, the king in a dog- or wolf-hood. In his thirteenthcentury
Prose-Edda, Snorri Sturluson refers to great warriors as Hiadnings, who until the

Wolves 29
end of the world fight daily, while each night Hilde brings the dead to life again. This is
so close to Woden’s einheriar warband in Valhalla that Hiadnings and einheriar blend
into each other. In a sense, then, Hiadning wolf-warriors are Woden’s einheriar, the ones
he chose to be with him when the world ends. 94 A fifth-century bracteate amulet shows
Woden in the last battle, at Ragnarök, wearing a wolf-helmet. 95
For tenth-century Norway the skald Eyvind Skaldaspillir attests wolf-warriors with his
line: “This hero bore the grey wolf-cape in the one-eyed’s storm.” 96 The “one-eyed’s
storm” is a kenning—an Old Norse compound expression—for battle. Wolf-warriors as
the champions of Nordic kings may reflect Woden’s bond with his wolf-warriors.
Outside the Germanic area, wolf-warriors likewise survived into the Middle Ages.
Judging from their names, Irish warriors wore wolfskins. A Pictish dog-warrior is carved
on a ninth-century stone slab in Scotland. Slavs and Lithuanians also had wolf-warriors.
All of Europe beyond the reach of Rome and Christianity upheld its Indo-European
heritage of wolf- and dog-warr iordom. 97
Sigmund the wolf-warrior and dragon-slayer
Bronzes, garments, weavings, warrior names, and sagas tell of wolf-warriors in heathen
Scandinavia. A tenth-century bronze figurine from a grave at Ekhammar/Kungsängen,
Sweden, though only about 3 cm high, offers a wealth of detail (Figure 1.7). 98
Found some 30 kilometers northwest of Stockholm, the figurine is from the heartland of
heathen Sweden. As with the wolf-warriors from Gutenstein and Torslunda, the man’s
pelt jacket is shorter than the shirt or hauberk underneath. His jacket has openings for the
arms, and its lower hem ends in a short tail. The wolfskin thus matches the definition of
heðinn—“a sleeveless, short cape with a fur hood”—that underlies the Norse term for
wolf-warrior, úlfheðinn. The heðinn on the Ekhammar bronze has the same cut, open in
front, as the wolf-hoods from Gutenstein and Torslunda. The tail is rather short for a
wolfskin, but it might have broken off or run along the warrior’s right leg. 99 The wolf’s
teeth are bared as for attack.
Does the Ekhammar warrior shake a spear in his right hand, as has been said? A close
look shows that he does not. The “spear” is an ormr, a wingless, footless dragon-snake,
its mouth clearly marked. The bend in the warrior’s long arm is his elbow, as in the
images of the Gutenstein and Torslunda wolf-warriors. His arm therefore ends at the
lower right corner of his frock. In his right hand he holds a sword, stabbing at the
dragon’s belly. Under magnification, the sword shows a cross near the tip of the blade, a
heathen symbol found also on bracteate amulets of about AD 500 and, as we have seen,
on the Gutenstein scabbard (Figure 1.3). 100

Ancient Germanic warriors 30
Figure 1.7 Sigmund (?), fighting the
worm. Bronze figurine from
Ekhammar, Uppland. Statens
Historiska Museen, Stockholm;
photograph ATA, Nils Lagergren.
Images like this one are likely to portray mythical heroes, and one thinks here of
Sigurd, the dragon-slayer of the north. However, most pictures of Sigurd’s dragon fight
show him piercing the “worm” from underneath, as in the Eddic Fáfnismál. The
Ekhammar figurine, then, is hardly Sigurd. But there is another mythic dragon fighter of
the north, Sigmund, whose feat is told in the eighth-century Beowulf as follows:
Sigmund’s brave deeds, many a strange thing, the strife of Wael’s son, his
wide wanderings, feuds and foul doings of which the children of men
knew nothing—only Fitela with him to whom he would tell all, the uncle
to his nephew, for they were always friends in need in every fight. Many
tribes of giants they laid low with their swords. For Sigmund there sprang
up after his death-day no little glory, after he, bold in battle, had killed the
wyrm, keeper of the hoard: under the grey stone the atheling’s son had
ventured alone, a daring deed, nor was Fitela with him. Yet it turned out

Wolves 31
well for him so that his sword went through the wondrous worm and stuck
in the wall, doughty iron: the dragon died of the murdering stroke. 101
Since Sigmund’s sword stuck in the wall of the cave, he must have stabbed the dragon
when both were standing upright—just as the Ekhammar bronze shows it. What makes it
almost certain that the Ekhammar figurine represents Sigmund is the hero’s wolf-hood.
Of all dragon-slayers only Sigmund was also a wolf-warrior. Heretofore we had only one
medieval image of Sigmund, the one from Winchester that shows him biting the wolf’s
tongue. Now, it seems, we have an image of him as dragon-slayer, accomplishing his
most famous deed. What is new is that, in this version of the myth, Sigmund slew the
dragon while he was a wolf-warrior; that is, at a time of ecstatic strength and fearlessness.
Heroic myth clearly held wolf-warriors in high regard, both in words and pictures. 102
Sigmund could well be portrayed in the tenth century, for just then the Eiriksmál has
Sigmund and Sinfiotli at Woden’s behest welcome outstanding newcomers to Valhalla. 103
As the Gutenstein, Obrigheim, and Torslunda wolf-warriors worshiped Woden, so did
the warrior of the Ekhammar grave, for a bronze statuette of Woden lay in the same
grave. 104 It follows that the wolf-warriors’ bond with Woden, known among the
Lombards a thousand years earlier, still held good in the tenth century. 105 Snorri
Sturluson in the thirteenth century thus did not “mythologize” bear- and wolf-warriors—
they had always been Woden’s men. 106
Beowulf calls Sigmund’s and Sinfiotli’s deeds foul as well as fair, the Volsung saga
portrays the two as outlaws living in the woods by robbery, and Wolfdieterich in the
thirteenth century likewise does both good and bad. The old Indo-European notion that
warriors bear a burden of sin was thus still alive in northern Europe through most of the
Middle Ages. So was the custom of sending young men as wolves into the wilds for
training in survival and conquest of new land. Sigi, Sigmund’s grandfather, was such a
wolf-warrior guided by Woden. Sigmund and Sinfiotli are thus true-to-type wolfwarriors:
of ambiguous morals, boundless strength, and fierceness in battle. They were
also men to whom Woden’s presence brought the power and magic that was in the
beginning. 107
Wolf-warriors in Icelandic sagas
Wolf-warriors fought in 1030 in the battle at Stiklastad, says the Helgisaga Óláfs
konungs Haraldssonar:
Thorir Hound and his men, twelve altogether, fought in front of their
troops, unarmored, wearing wolf-skin coats… And men say that Björn the
Stout hewed with his sword at Thorir that day. Yet wherever he aimed, his
sword failed to bite as though its edge had been turned. For Thorir and his
men were in those wolf-skin coats which a Finn had made with great
magic. When Björn saw that his sword did not bite, he called to the king
and said: “The weapon does not bite the dogs.” “Then beat the dogs,” said
the king. Then Björn took a huge club and clobbered Thorir Hound so that
he fell down and ever after had his head tilted to one side. And then he

Ancient Germanic warriors 32
leaped up and thrust Björn through with his spear and said: “This is how
we bite bears in the northland woods.” 108
In Snorri Sturluson’s version the king said: “Strike down the dog on whom steel takes no
effect.” The belief that wolf-warriors cannot be hurt by steel or fire comes perhaps from
their being confused with berserks, as they were by this time. 109 But the belief may be
much older, for the Hirpi Sorani, Italic wolf-warriors, could also walk on fire. If so, wolfwarriors
were ecstatic fighters all along, as woundlessness comes from ecstasy. That the
Longobard dog-warriors drank blood makes them, too, ecstatic fighters, for in Icelandic
sagas biting the opponent’s windpipe was a custom of mad wolf-warriors and berserks. 110
Indo-European wolf-warrior youths, as we have seen, wore no armor. On Trajan’s
Column, however, being Roman auxiliaries, they wore armor, and likewise on early
medieval monuments, being leading warriors. Helgi saga, portraying wolf-warriors
unarmored, thus seems to reflect literary imagination of the saga period rather than old
custom, for Thorir Hound and his wolf-warriors too are leading warriors. 111
As long as the ancient religion lasted, wolf-warriors were Woden’s mythic fighters at
the heart of Germanic warrior society. Being fearsome fighters, they, like bear-warriors
and berserks, could become a king’s champions. Saxo Grammaticus tells the delightful
story that when Erik came to King Frothi’s hall and sat down with the champions, they
howled like wolves until the king stopped them. 112 Like berserks (with whom they are
sometimes confused), they were often the twelve champions of a king.
When Christianity overthrew Woden worship, wolf-warriordom lost its religious
underpinning. In sagas from the twelfth century and later, wolf-warriors are mad
berserks. “The berserks that were called úlfheðnar wore wolf-pelts for hauberks,” says
the Vatnsdæla saga. Wolf-warriors had become mad fighters who, in the new meaning of
the word berserkir (“bare-shirt”), scorned armor. 113
Northern Europeans nevertheless kept up some of their wolf-warriordom throughout
the Middle Ages, for they lived in the midst of woods teeming with wolves. Their wolfancestor
myths, such as the one in the thirteenth-century Wolfdieterich epic, show the
abiding closeness of man and wolf. Even in modern Europe large packs of wolves still
roamed the woods and ravaged herds, barely kept in check by trap and wolfhound until in
the nineteenth-century public hunts hounded them into extinction. Only now, at the
beginning of the third millennium, when no more than 200,000 wolves are left worldwide
and very few are still on the loose in Europe and North America, do wolves no
longer haunt our dreams. 114

Wolves 33
Figure 1.8 Hundsgugel wolf-helmet of
about AD 1390–1400, from southern
Germany. Photo: Schweizerisches
Landesmuseum, Zürich, Neg. 105 206.
Medieval knights widely upheld a wolf-symbolism. So ingrained was it that in France
alone 1,200 noble families had wolves as their shield badges. Heraldic animals may have
been individual or family symbols, but when so many individuals and families all bore
wolf-badges, the wolf was still a widely shared warrior symbol. Although it was now
only a symbol rather than a means of identification, some of the old closeness to the
animal is likely to have lingered on. A token of this is the striking late-medieval helmet
type called Hundsgugel (hound hood) that looks like a wolf head (Figure 1.8). Wearing it,
early fifteenth-century knights still, in a way, fought as wolves. 115

2
BEARS
A huge bear advanced before King Hrolf’ s men, and
always next at hand where the king was. It killed more
men with its paw than any five of the king’s champions
did. Blows and missiles glanced off from the animal and it
beat down both men and horses.
Hrólfs saga Kraka
Bear-warriors on Trajan’s Column
Bear sympathy is found since the earliest times throughout the northern hemisphere:
among North American Indians, ancient Chinese, and Ugro-Finnish Permians, who in the
first century AD wore bear-hoods with dangling forepaws. Among Indo-Europeans,
however, bear-warriors occur far less often than wolf-warriors. In Europe, bear-warriors
seem to be mostly Germanic, for few or none are known among Celtic and Italic tribes.
Scene 36 of Trajan’s Column is the only portrayal we have of ancient European bearwarriors,
and as they march with Trajan’s Germanic troops, they are likely to be Germani
too. 1
Scholars have noted the four pelt-hooded warriors in the upper left of scene 36 of
Trajan’s Column (Figures 0.2, 1.1), but have not distinguished the bearskin hoods of the
first two from the wolfskin hoods of the later two. A detail photograph shows how bear-
and wolf-hoods differ (Figure 2.1). 2
The hood on the right in Figure 2.1 has the broad paws and long claws of a bear, while
the one on the left has the narrow paws without claws of a wolf. The other bear-warrior,
not seen here but in Figure 1.1, is less well preserved, but the claws of the crossed paws
of his hood (just above and to the right of the wolf-warrior) leave no doubt that he too is a
bear-warrior. By thus distinguishing between the two types of animal skins, the Column
recognizes two different animal-warrior styles: wolf- and bear-warriors. 3
Like the wolf-warriors in this scene, the bear-warriors are dressed as regular
auxiliaries with standard tunic, knee-breeches, and neckerchief. They are also armed like
auxiliaries, with cuirass, shield, and sword hanging from a baldric.
Moreover, they seem to wear helmets underneath their skin-hoods: a metal band
around the forehead of the first bear-warrior in Figure 1.1 suggests a helmet. Helmets are
equipment of Roman auxiliaries; free Germani rarely wore them. 4

Bears 35
Figure 2.1 Bear- and wolf-warriors,
wearing different pelt hoods (detail of
Figure 0.2). Photo: Deutsches
Archäologisches Institut, Rome, Inst.
Neg. 41.1263, made from the Column
itself, while Figure 1.1 is a photograph
of the plaster cast.
Careful observer that he was, Cichorius saw that unlike the animal heads of Roman
standard-bearers depicted elsewhere on Trajan’s Column, those in scene 36 retain their
lower jaws. Indeed, the lower jaw of the bearskin in Figure 1.1 reaches nearly to the
warrior’s mouth, almost like a cheek guard. The lower jaw of the other bearskin is
somewhat shorter, but it too stretches toward the warrior’s mouth. This is never found in
pictures of Roman standard-bearers or hornblowers: Roman triumphal art—elsewhere on
Trajan’s Column and in the Aurelian panels, for example—always depicts the pelt hoods
of standard-bearers and hornblowers without lower jaws save for a short spur stretching
toward the warriors’ eyes. 5 Retaining the lower jaws of the animal skins in scene 36 must
therefore have been part of the animal-warrior get-up, for northern pelt-hooded warriors
in the early Middle Ages also wore animal skins with lower jaws attached (Figures 1.3–
1.7). Their names and battle fury make it clear that they did this because, unlike Roman
standard-bearers, they were true bear- or wolf-men. 6
Bear- and wolf-pelt battle garb marks Trajan’s men as Germanic warriors. Cuirasses
and helmets mark them also as Roman soldiers; that is, auxiliaries recruited in the Roman
provinces of Germany. Archaeological finds support this: a Roman auxiliary helmet
embroidered with bear fur, it seems, has come to light at the Batavian auxiliary fort on
the Kops Plateau at Nijmegen. Germani liked to rework Roman helmets to give them a

Ancient Germanic warriors 36
wild look or new significance: bear fur on his helmet may have made the wearer feel
bear-like. 7
Another striking fact revealed by scene 36 of the Column is that in AD 101 bear- and
wolf-warriors fought side by side. Bear- and wolf-warriors, as we shall see, fought
alongside each other also in the battle on the Hafrsfjord in Norway in AD 872. The
parallel between the two instances suggests that this was an ancient custom. Perhaps the
pairing enlivened competition: Greeks and Romans paired units to fight side by side so
they would vie with each other for victory and fame. Trajan may have made use of a
traditional Germanic pattern for a Roman reason. 8 Perhaps wolves and bears reflected age
sets, and as wolf-warriors were often the young, bear warriors may have been older men.
Wolves and bears together were the kings of the wild and hence of the battlefield. 9
Bear-hooded soldiers in the Roman army
Suddenly and surprisingly in the mid-first century AD, bear-hoods came into use among
regular, non-Germanic Roman auxilia. Soon afterward even the legions adopted them. In
several scenes of Trajan’s Column, and in many other works of art from this period, we
see Roman eagle-bearers, standard-bearers, and musicians wearing bear-hoods.
Heretofore unknown in the Roman army, bear-hoods were not a Roman tradition. Where
did they come from, and what did they mean?
P.Couissin believed Rome adopted bear-hoods from her northern neighbors. Roman
soldiers who killed Germanic bear-warriors may have stripped off their hoods as trophies
and worn them as badges of bravery. In earlier times, Roman soldiers stripped torcs from
fallen Celts and wore them as trophies; after a while, Roman-made torcs became battle
decorations awarded by Roman commanders. The same may have happened with
Germanic animal hoods. 10
Because battle decorations went to the bravest and the bravest became standardbearers,
the latter may have begun to wear a bear-hood over their helmet as a badge of
status. Standing in the middle of the first line in battle, standard-bearers and hornblowers
were well-placed to cow enemy tribesmen by flaunting captured pelt hoods. 11 On parade,
hooded standard-bearers and hornblowers made a splendid show. Perhaps Rome adopted
bear- rather than wolf-hood insignia because bear-warriors were uniquely Germanic,
while Rome had once had its own wolf-warriors. 12
If the bear-hoods of Roman standard-bearers originated from trophies, one would
expect them to appear first among auxiliary cohorts on the Rhine, since they were the
first Roman forces to fight Germanic bear-warriors. This is indeed where they are found.
The earliest known bear-hooded Roman standard-bearer is Pintaius of cohors V Asturum,
whose gravestone at Bonn dates to the reign of Claudius (41–54). The next one is
Genialis, image-bearer of cohors VII Raetorum, whose gravestone at Mainz dates to the
time of Nero (54–68). 13
In the legions, bear-hooded standard-bearers became known by the time of Vespasian
(69–79). The earliest legionary standard-bearers also served on the Rhine and may have
adopted the custom from the auxilia. Later, legionaries with bear-hoods (and praetorians
with lion-hoods like those of Hercules and Alexander the Great) are met on monuments
of state art from Trajan’s to Marcus Aurelius’ time. Then they disappear. 14

Bears 37
A striking parallel to Rome’s adoption of Germanic bear-hoods are the leopard skins
royal Hungarian bodyguards wore at court in Vienna until 1918. They took the custom—
and the first skins—from the bodyguard of the Turkish Grand Vizier whom they
overcame in 1716 under Prince Eugene. The Turkish guard, in turn, may have had the
custom from medieval Georgian knights. 15 The persistence of this custom for several
hundred years neatly parallels that of Roman bear-hood wearers. It also shows the
abidingness of warrior customs the world over. From the Stone Age to the twentieth
century, wearing skins of toothed animals, especially when taken in battle, raised warrior
pride. 16
To be singled out by Romans for trophies, Germanic bear-warriors must have been
outstanding fighters—and hence few in number. This may be why Tacitus mentions
neither wolf- nor bear-warriors, and why we learn of no Germanic bear-warriors who
may have served in the Roman army after Trajan’s time, even though from amphitheaters
and bear-fight pits, both Romans and Germani knew bears well as grim single fighters. 17
In the later Roman army, Germanic field marshals and troops held on to furs as part of
their warrior get-up, not unlike guards today at Buckingham Palace or in the Swedish
Grenadier Watch. At a time when old-fashioned Romans claimed to scorn furs, Emperor
Zeno in Byzantium in 472 took pride in his fur-clad Excubitores guards. Since furs are
too hot for Mediterranean summers, Zeno’s northern warriors seem to have donned their
pelts out of animal sympathy. 18
Bear-warriors in the early Middle Ages
Compared to wolf-warriors, there is less pictorial evidence for bear-warriors in the early
Middle Ages, but there are bear-warrior tales. When in AD 497 or slightly thereafter,
King Clovis of the Franks and his followers became Christians, wolf- and bearwarriordom
among the Franks was stifled, for these fighting styles were bound up with
Woden worship. The more they were Christianized, the more Franks had to forgo the
religious aspects of animal-warrior styles. Yet their fighting customs may have changed
little, for they still fought in a fury, as a certain Ursio did in 587. According to Gregory of
Tours’ “History of the Franks,” King Childebert’s army cornered the rebellious Ursio and
his men in a church on a mountain near Verdun. The king’s men, unable to force their
way into the building, set it afire:
When Ursio saw this, he girt himself with his sword, came out, and began
such a slaughter among the besiegers that none who showed himself
stayed alive. There fell Trudulf, count of the royal palace, and many of
that army were cut down. When Ursio finally tired of the slaughter,
someone hit him in the leg. Weakened, he sank to the ground and, as
others ran up, lost his life.
Ursio’s name means either “Bear-Man” or “Furious One.” Like Woden’s men he seems
to have fought in a trance of madness that gave him uncanny strength and made him
wound-proof for a while, only to be followed by a weakness, as always in such cases.
Perhaps Ursio was only a desperate, cornered man. But Gregory seems to tell the story

Ancient Germanic warriors 38
because he and his fellow Franks saw Ursio’s deed as the height of life itself. If this was
no longer the ancient bearecstacy, it was close to it. 19
In the Anglo-Saxon poem The Fight at Finnsburg, the sixty warriors with Hnaef are
called sigebeorna, “Victory Bears.” Such appellatives no doubt gave rise to bear-warrior
names. As time went by, however, ancient animal-warrior names lost their meaning
among Anglo-Saxons, Franks, and Saxons. They began to fade from use when warriors
no longer saw themselves as mythical bears and wolves. 20 Northern Europe held
Christianity at bay much longer than the Franks did; hence wolf- and bear-warriors
flourished there until the eleventh century.
In his poem of praise for King Harald Fairhair at the battle on the Hafrsfjord in AD
872 Thorbjorn Hornklofi says that berserks and wolfwarriors began the fight:
Grenjuðu berserkir emjuðu úlfheðnar
guðr vas a sinnum ok ísorn dúðu
Berserks snorted as the battle began, wolf-warriors howled and shook weapons. 21
Since Hornklofi wrote these lines for the king and other eye-witnesses soon after the
battle, they must be close to the truth. But which of the two meanings of berserk did he
have in mind: bare-shirts, the mad fighters of modern usage, or the earlier “bearwarriors”?
The fact that Hornklofi pairs berserkir and úlfheðnar (wolf-warriors) suggests
that both are animal-warriors and that his berserks, as their name says, are bear-warriors.
There was a linguistic reason for this change in the meaning of the word “berserk”:
sometime after the ninth century, the word berr in Old Norse no longer meant “bear” but
only “bare.” 22 To the saga writers, therefore, berserks were “bare fighters” without
hauberks, brynjulausir, “men without mail shirt,” as Snorri Sturluson calls them, while in
earlier times wolf- and bear-warriors did wear hauberks. 23
The howling and snorting of Hornklofi’s warriors also matched their identification
with animals. Wolves, of course, howl, and Hornklofi’s verb emjuðu denotes the howling
of wolves. Attacking bears, on the other hand, snort: they push short bursts of air through
their teeth and open lips. Hornklofi’s grenjuðu seems to mean just that, for the sound of
grenja is that of a broken sword-blade swishing to the ground. In Old Norse prose the
verb grenja is used sixteen times of berserks, five times of swords, twice of bears and,
tellingly, once of breaking waves. Grenja is the English word “to grin, to show one’s
teeth.” It means not to howl but to snort and snarl. Hornklofi’s berserks, snorting like
bears, are therefore in all likelihood “bear-shirts”, that is bear-warriors. 24
The claim that Hornklofi “freely invented” the terms berserkir and úlfheðnar to
describe ecstatic warriors is mistaken. The eighth-century name Wolfhetan makes it clear
that the term úlfheðnar was used for wolf-warriors long before the poem. That the term
berserkir also existed by then is made more than likely by the parallelism of bear- and
wolf-warriors on Trajan’s Column and in Hornklofi’s poem, and by eighth- and ninthcentury
names such as Peragrim (Bear-Mask), Bernhelm, and the Bjarnheðinn. 25 Indeed,
the parallelism between the portrayal of wolf- and bear-warriors on Trajan’s Column and
in Hornklofi’s poem links Trajan’s first-century bear-warriors with medieval
Scandinavian bear-warriors. 26
Bear-names may also reveal something of bear-warrior tactics: the early medieval
German name Perlaic (“Bear-Dancer”) parallels the above-mentioned Vulfolaic (Wolf-
Dancer), and suggests that bear-warriors had their own war dance, imitating bears. As

Bears 39
bear-dance ecstacy is known from North America, ancient China, Siberia, and the
Hittites, the Germanic warrior style that derives from it is hardly a Scandinavian
invention, as has been claimed, but a custom inherited from the Stone Age. 27
Hornklofi’s poem portrays wolf- and bear-warriors as the king’s champions and hence
few in number. As such, it seems, they also appear on the Norwegian Oseberg tapestry of
about AD 800. There, in the legendary battle at Bråvalla, two warriors, wearing strange
hoods, stride in the van (Figure 11.5). 28 Strutting ahead while wearing wolf- or bearhoods,
their role as the king’s champions is to lead the warriors of the line, passing on to
them the battle madness of Woden.
Bear-warriors in Icelandic sagas
In the thirteenth century Snorri Sturluson wrote that, of old, Woden’s men in battle
“behaved like mad dogs or wolves…and were strong like bears or bulls.” Snorri called
this behavior berserksgang, which could mean “berserk gait” or “berserk attack.” The
warriors dressed, howled, snorted, strutted, and altogether behaved like bears or wolves,
not only to frighten foes but also because for the fight they felt themselves to be bears
and wolves. 29
Bears on the attack snort, bark hoarsely, and finally clack their teeth. Bear-warriors, as
we saw, snorted (as did berserks). Very likely, therefore, they also barked and clacked
their teeth. The sagas and a twelfth-century chess set from the Isle of Lewis in the Outer
Hebrides tell of a weird custom of biting one’s shield (Figure 5.4). Such biting, done
rapidly, makes a sound like that of bears clacking their teeth before they attack. It is also
much louder than clacking one’s teeth and avoids the chattering that might seem to come
from fear. Not loud enough for a battlefield challenge, shield-biting could nevertheless
put one into a trance. Known only from the time when “berserk” already meant any kind
of reckless warrior, it may nevertheless have been a custom brought about by warriors
who felt themselves to be bears. 30
A warrior who donned an animal hood underwent a thorough transformation. In a
trance-like state he “became” the animal, and like a shaman drew strength from his “spirit
animal.” As a parallel one may cite a Carib from Guyana who said of his tiger-dance: “I
growl, I hiss. I swing the club just like he does when he crushes his prey with one blow of
his terrible claws. And when I have killed my enemy, I must also drink his blood and
taste his flesh so that the spirit that impels me to do this deed will be assuaged …When
the Tiger is in the man, the man becomes like a tiger.” 31
Warriors so much changed themselves in this process that their fellows noted it. The
fourteenth-century saga about the heathen Danish King Hrolf tells of such a shape-shift in
graphic detail. While battle engulfed his king, Bothvar Bjarki (“Battle Bear”), his
champion, sat in the hall doing nothing. Yet one “saw a huge bear advance before King
Hrolf’s men and always next at hand where the king was. It killed more men with its paw
than any five of the king’s champions did. Blows and missiles glanced off from it.” When
someone summoned Bothvar Bjarki to the fight, the bear vanished—it had been Bjarki in
changed shape. Bothvar Bjarki is our best medieval example of a warrior becoming a
bear. 32 Like Bothvar Bjarki, bears fight not in packs but alone.

Ancient Germanic warriors 40
Bears in nature can also fall into a fighting madness, as told in the Irish legend of
CúChulainn and as born out by the Sioux warrior name “The Grizzly bear that runs
without regard.” Bjarki as a bear fought in an ecstacy that gave him more-than-human
strength and made him wound-proof. The bear-warriors’ ecstatic style, like that of Bjarki,
may explain why by the thirteenth century the word “berserk” had come to denote every
kind of mad, fearless fighter. Bothvar Bjarki himself, when he afterwards fought as a
man, did so in the grip of madness. 33
But not all shape-shifts went that far: lesser changes might be no more than a token
shift in dress. What matters most, however, is that animal-warriors became not ordinary
bears or wolves but mythical beings: Woden’s own. Woden himself, to judge from his
bear names such as Björn, at times turned into a bear or bear-warrior. Defined by culture
and religion, the fighting madness of bear- and wolf-warriors was not a mindless rage but
a mythical identification. 34
Later medieval warriors upheld a bear-symbolism that sometimes came close to
identifying with the animal. Twelfth-century “Albrecht der Bär” of Saxony and
Brandenburg “was” a bear to judge by his nickname. In the later Middle Ages, knights
and burghers emblazoned their coats of arms with bears as well as with wolves, boars,
eagles, lions, panthers, and dragons, proclaiming thereby their will to fight, like those
beasts, nobly, fearlessly, and frighteningly. By then, bears were symbols only, but if one
wanted to more truly identify with the animal, there were bear masks. Charles the Fifth
(1519—1556) must have wanted to look like a bear if, as is likely, the bear-masked suit
of armor now in Florence belonged to him. 35 If so, he bodied forth nearly the same
warrior’s animal sympathy as the Aztec jaguar-, wolf-, and eagle-warriors whom his
captain Cortés fought in Mexico.

3
BUCKS
A horned buck, knowing he has weapons, rushes into
fights all the time.
Columella
Bucks (billy goats), stubborn and full of fight, also inspired Indo-European warriors.
Buck-warriors, often wearing horned helmets, are found among Vedic Indians, Iranians,
Sardinians, Mycenaeans, archaic Greeks, and Celts. Early Rome knew them too: buckwarriors
of Juno Sospita had their part in the Lupercalia festival as had wolf-warriors of
Romulus and Mars. 1
Ancient Germani too fought as buck-warriors. Cornuti (“Horned Ones”), wearing
horned helmets, stand out on several reliefs on Constantine’s Arch (Figure 3.1). 2
Since the horns on the helmets rise from the front, not from the side, they are goat
horns rather than bull horns. Carved by different artists, not all horned helmets on
Constantine’s Arch look alike: in the marching and battle scenes the horns bend forward,
in the scenes depicting the siege of Verona and the entry into Rome, they are straight or
bend backward. Nevertheless, all mark the same kind of troops: horned buck-warriors.
The reliefs on Constantine’s Arch show the horned warriors, wherever they are found,
as front-rank fighters. In the siege-of-Verona scene they run along the walls, ahead of
everyone else; in the battle at the Milvian Bridge, they, together with bowmen and
horsemen, do all the fighting. Marked by their horned helmets as foreigners and
portrayed as Constantine’s most outstanding troops, they must be the emperor’s topranking
Auxilia Palatina. 3
The highest-ranking Auxilia Palatina are known from the Notitia Dignitatum, the
Roman government handbook of about AD 400, which lists Cornuti, Brachiati,
Petulantes, and Celtae at the head of the Auxilia. Since all four of these units have twindragon
shield badges, they belong together and were very likely raised together. Having
similar shield badges, the four units also likely had the same fighting spirit: the one
evoked by the name of the Petulantes—the bucks’ instinct of stubborn attack. 4

Ancient Germanic warriors 42
Figure 3.1 Warrior with horned helmet
at the siege of Verona, AD 311.
Constantine’s Arch, Rome. Photo:
Deutsches Archäologisches Institut,
Rome, Inst. Neg. 32–82.
Literary evidence states that the elite troops who in 311 won for Constantine the battle at
the Milvian Bridge were largely Germanic warriors. This confirms that the Cornuti and
Petulantes, Constantine’s most outstanding troops, were Germanic auxiliaries. 5 Certainly
Constantine saw them as such, for he had their shield badge depicted on his arch in Rome
(Figure 3.2). 6

Bucks 43
The shield, borne by an officer in the victory parade on the socle of the arch, blazons
the twin-dragon badge of the Auxilia Palatina. The gill-slits, clearly seen on the left
dragon, prove that these are facing dragons, not “horns” as has been claimed. The un-
Roman, Germanic twin-dragon symbol—the same as that on the Torslunda die (Figure
1.6)—is here rigged with goat horns to adapt it to buck-warriors. 7 A bronze statuette, now
in Princeton, shows Emperor
Figure 3.2 Shield with facing twin
dragons. Constantine’s Arch, Rome.
Photo: Deutsches Archäologisches
Institut, Rome, DAIR Inst. Neg
342121.
Constantine holding a shield with this twin-dragon badge: 8 adopting their shield, the
emperor wants himself to be seen as a Cornutus buck-warrior. 9
Likewise acknowledging the Cornuti’s fame, another relief on Constantine’s Arch
depicts one of their horn-helmeted officers escorting a personified Roma to the victorious

Ancient Germanic warriors 44
emperor. 10 It is a stunning picture—Germanic buck-warriors conquering Rome. A
hundred years later, Germanic tribal warriors again conquered the city—the Goths in AD
410—only then on their own account, against the emperor.
Although buck-warriors were Rome’s elite troops during the fourth century, given the
overall dearth of evidence they left few traces among free Germanic tribes. One of these
is a third-century scabbard chape, engraved with a buck, that came to light in Denmark
(Figure 3.3).
Since the buck decorated a weapon, it must have had a warrior meaning: the scabbard
belonged to a buck-warrior. The find-spot in Denmark fits very well, for some of
Maximian’s and Constantine’s prisoners of war, and hence their Auxilia, such as the
Heruli, came from there. 11
Figure 3.3 Buck. Scabbard chape from
Fredsö, Denmark. Drawing: Werner,
Aufkommen 1966, 25, fig. 11.
The shorter Gallehus gold horn of about AD 400, likewise from Denmark but now lost,
depicts two naked gods with buck horns, war-dancing. Since gods wore such horns, buckwarriors
may have felt themselves repeating the primordial deeds of gods, enacting the
world-wide myth of the eternal return.
Saxo Grammaticus in the thirteenth century says of the legendary Danish king Gram
that he put on goatskins to intimidate others and wielded a frightful club. When Gro, the
daughter of the Swedish king Sigtruk, saw him, she said: “Bold warriors have often
hidden themselves under the hides of beasts.” Gram, in a sense, was a buck-warrior. 12

Bucks 45
She-goats were the antithesis to buck-warriors. When in AD 363 Emperor Julian
paraded Persian prisoners before his army, he called them “foul she-goats disfigured with
filth” to brand them as woeful cowards. In the Grettis saga, the men from whom earl
Audun bought his life called him Audun Geit, “Audun the Nanny-Goat.” 13
Frankish and Nordic warrior names like Buccilin and Bucciovalda became rare after
Christianity called the buck the devil’s animal. 14 Indeed, what is known of buck-warriors
shows that our knowledge of ancient and early medieval warrior styles depends on the
hazards of evidence lost or preserved. Only for wolf-warriors do we have sources rich
enough to write a detailed history. But while we have fewer sources for buck-warriors,
they may nevertheless have thrived from the Bronze Age to the Middle Ages. 15

4
MARTENS
Particularly impressive are the hectic and fast hunts of
these animals in treetops. Especially when chasing
squirrels, martens race on thin, swinging branches and, in
the heat of the chase, jump from one treetop to another,
leaping up to eleven feet (three and a half meters) through
the air.
H.Grzimek, Encyclopedia of Mammals, vol. 3
Though much smaller than wolves, bears, or bucks, predators of the marten and weasel
family (mustelidae) are as fierce and bloodthirsty, lending themselves well to warrior
identification. They were mythical beings too: several Asiatic tribes, notably Huns and
Indo-European Mitanni, claimed the wolverine, a relative of the marten, as their forebear.
Animal sympathy among Indo-Europeans thus extended to the marten and weasel family.
Ancient Germani dared not speak the animal’s true name. Marten (“Biter” or “Killer”)
is a circumscribing Noa-name that avoids uttering the uncanny mythical name. 1 The
marten’s supernatural role is seen on a third-century embossed silver foil found at
Thorsberg, Schleswig where what seems to be a clawy marten with a neckband follows
four mythical animals: a sea horse, a goat with fishtail, a boar, and a bird also wearing
neckbands. As these animals are mythical, so is the marten among them. 2
The Latin word for helmet, galea, originally meant “marten pelt,” but we cannot tell
whether early Romans wore these helmets as marten-warriors or for their fine fur. Nor do
we know why the fleet-footed spy Dolon in the Iliad wore a marten-pelt cap. 3
The battlefield of AD 69 at the Roman fort of Gelduba on the Rhine has yielded a
Germanic helmet (Figure 4.1). 4 Lost by a Germanic warrior, the helmet is a Roman iron
bowl helmet, stripped of its neck and cheek guards and with ear openings closed. A
leather band was fitted round the rim of the bowl with openings for feathers in front, an
open space in the middle, and animal fur on top. Perhaps the fur was joined to an animal
skull to fill the open space in front, though that is not certain. The Gelduba helmet recalls
Plutarch’s words about Germanic Ambrones horsemen in 101 BC:
They wore helmets like the gaping maws of frightful beasts and strange
creatures, and these, with their towering feather crests, made them look
even taller. 5

Martens 47
Figure 4.1 Germanic helmet with
feathers and perhaps a marten skull.
Gelduba, Rhineland. Drawing after
Reichmann, “Schlachtfelder” 1994, 7.
The Gelduba helmet bears out Plutarch’s account of feathers and animals atop Germanic
helmets, and so does a relief from Neumagen depicting a Germanic helmet with
feathers—further support for Plutarch’s description. 6
A marten as a shield badge of Constantine’s Germanic Auxilia Palatina units is found
in the fourth-century Notitia Dignitatum (Figure 4.2). 7
Rearing on the hind legs is characteristic of the marten family. The triangular pointed
head, the small ears, the straight forepaws, all fit a marten very well, even the brown
back, the white belly and light forehead—if the colors of the drawing are meant to reflect
reality. 8 At the Milvian bridge,

Ancient Germanic warriors 48
Figure 4.2 Marten shield badge,
Notitia Dignitatum (detail of Figure
1.2). Notitia Dignitatum Oc.V., 36;
drawing after Seeck, Notitia 1876, 36.
then, Constantine had among his Auxilia Palatina not only buck-warriors but martenwarriors
as well.
From the seventh and later centuries come Old High German names such as
Mardhedin (“Marten-Hood Wearer”) and Marthelm (“Marten-Helmet Wearer”), mostly
from Frankish lands. Like the names Wolfhetan and Wolfhelm for wolf-warriors, or
Bjarnhedin and Bernhelm for bear-warriors, the marten-names proclaim an animalwarrior
style. Scholars studying ancient names have long suspected this to be so, but
knew of no marten-warrior finds or images. 9 Now names and images together make it
likely that ancient and early medieval Germani also fought as marten-warriors.
Ancient as well as early medieval Germanic armies are likely also to have fielded
boar-, aurochs-, raven-, eagle-, and other animal-warriors, but for lack of evidence from
antiquity we must pass them by, save for a truly telling woman boar-warrior from the
Oseberg wall-hanging of about AD 800 (Figure 4.3). 10
Her trailing robe marks her as a women: perhaps she is a valkyrie, or one of the
women champions who, according to Saxo, fought at Bråvalla. 11 As with the wolfwarriors
of Gutenstein, Torslunda, and Ekhammar, the animal skin covers all of her head
but only part of her dress. Raising her shield, she may be chanting the barritus as seen in
Figure 10.1. Whether battlefield champion or valkyrie, the Oseberg boar-warrior woman
shows that Stone Age animal sympathy still stirred Germanic warriors in the ninth
century AD.

Martens 49
Figure 4.3 Boar-warrior. Oseberg
wall-hanging, Oslo. Drawing after
Hougen, “Billedvev” 1940, 104.
Looking back over the history of animal-warriors, the words of Mircea Eliade ring true
for all such fighting styles:
Imitating the gait of an animal or putting on its skin was acquiring a
superhuman mode of being. There was no question of a regression into
pure “animal life”; the animal was already charged with mythology. By
becoming this mythical animal, man became something far greater and
stronger than himself. 12

Part 2
FRIGHTENING WARRIORS

5
NAKED BERSERKS
That headstrong madness and onrush which the barbarians
take for manhood.
Florus
Indo-European berserks
“Berserks,” said Snorri Sturluson in the thirteenth century, “were men who went to battle
recklessly raging like mad dogs or wolves. Willfully forgoing body-armor, they scorned
wounds and death.” Fighting madness and scorn of armor, then, are the two things that
mark men as berserks. While scorning armor is rare, daring warriors fighting heedless of
danger are found world-wide. They often form warrior-groups with their own laws and
customs, boasting of their recklessness, as did, for example, American Indian no-retreat
societies. Among Indo-Europeans, fighting madness arose easily and went with several
warrior styles here discussed. Nevertheless, to be berserk—that is, fighting mad and
scorning armor—was a warrior style in itself and a hallmark of Indo-European
civilization. 1
The oldest known Indo-European warrior is carved on a stone slab from Kernosovka
in the Ukraine, belonging to the Copper Age Kemi-Oba culture of 4000–3000 BC. Longhaired,
armed with three axes, a club, and a knife or spear, he wears, like many later
berserks, only a belt. Being naked, he is a reckless warrior, but his pulled-up shoulders,
his arms held to the chest, and his stiff penis (all three also found on the famous Celtic
warrior statue from Hirschlanden) show him to burn with that inner heat that brings about
the power of the shaman as well as the fury of the warrior. 2 Man or god, he is berserk.
Unfortunately, no words come to us from that early time to tell us what beliefs led to his
stance.
We first hear of berserks in the army of Tukulti-Ninurta, king of Assyria 1243–1207
BC. Having fought and routed the Babylonians in 1228, Tukulti-Ninurta commissioned
an epic praising the battle madness of his warriors. The poem boasts that Tukulti-
Ninurta’s gods struck his foes with blindness and fear and smashed their weapons, while
his warriors, calling on the war goddess, shifted shapes like Anzu the eagle-dragon, threw
off their armor, and danced themselves into a fighting frenzy:
Wildly raging, taking forms strange as Anzu.
They fiercely rush to the fray without armor,
Having stripped off their breastplates, thrown off their clothing,

Ancient Germanic warriors 52
They bound up their hair and polished (?) their weapons,
The fierce heroes danced with sharpened weapons.
They snorted at one another like fighting lions with flashing eyes
The swirling dust storms of battle whirl about. 3
Flashing eyes, fighting frenzy, snorting at one another, turning into beasts of prey, and
swirling-storm tactics are found among warriors everywhere, including those of
Mesopotamia. 4 But to shed one’s armor in the face of the enemy is a behavior known
only of Indo-Europeans. Were Tukulti-Ninurta’s men Indo-European berserks in the
service of Assyria?
Sound method demands that the bigger the gap in time and space between comparable
customs, the more elaborate the shared custom must be if one is to accept a common
origin. Shedding one’s armor in sight of the enemy is a complicated, specific, and most
unlikely gesture. A tantalizing inscription tells of Ramses II that he once fought out in
front, before his chariotry and foot, without wearing his corselet, but it is not clear
whether he did so to boast about his bravery or merely to say that he had been in great
danger. 5 Having no armor is one thing; throwing it off in sight of the enemy is quite
another—and Tukulti-Ninurta’s men threw off not just armor but their garments as well.
Otherwise unknown to Near Eastern tradition, this is so much like what we know of Indo-
European berserks that it makes an Indo-European origin of Tukulti-Ninurta’s men very
likely indeed. 6
Assyrians often took large numbers of prisoners into their army. Tukulti-Ninurta could
have drafted Indo-Europeans into his service early in his reign, when he captured, as he
says, “28,800 Hittites from beyond the Euphrates.” 7 He calls his wild warriors his
bondsmen, ardani, which could mean his sworn warband, but the meaning of the word
ardani shades also into “servants” and could thus mean Hittite or Iranian prisoners of
war. 8 At the time, foreign mercenaries in the Near East serving as chariot-runners wore
no body armor, while as infantry for close combat they did. 9 Like they, Tukulti-Ninurta’s
foreigners may have been skilled in both kinds of fighting, with and without body armor,
which would make them believe they could win against the Babylonians even without
breastplates, by proudly fighting naked, trusting in speed and spryness.
The weapons of Tukulti-Ninurta’s berserks, polished and sharpened before battle, may
have been swords. New to the Near East, swords were brought there by Indo-European
mercenaries about this time. 10 In later periods, too, berserks were mostly swordsmen.
Without incoming foreigners, cultural and military change as radical as the appearance
of berserk warriors in Assyria is unlikely. Complex, disciplined societies with a stable
population like that of Assyria do not turn wild again on their own: there are no examples
of that in world history. 11 Assyria could not have produced these berserks by itself.
Whatever their origin, the berserk mind bore Tukulti-Ninurta’s warriors to victory.
Perhaps they used the new iron weapons, but if so these had little to do with their victory.
The epic so pointedly praises the men’s fighting spirit that one must take it as the decisive
factor in their winning the battle. In war, mind-set at times matters more than
technology. 12
Tukulti-Ninurta’s epic, revealing Bronze Age berserks, thus is a most valuable source
for the berserk warrior style. It shows, among other things, that being this old, the berserk

Naked berserks 53
style cannot have spread, as some claim, with fighting on horseback, for cavalry arose
later, at the end of the second millennium BC. 13 Battle madness of elite warriors is known
from the myths of many Indo-European nations, including Vedic Indians, and for that
reason too is likely to have flourished long before they dispersed in the early second
millennium BC. 14
Bronze Age images show Hittite, Shardana, Mycenaean, and northern European
swordfighters naked. Confirming one another, these pictures must reflect reality. 15
Archaic Greek bronze statuettes, however, represent naked warriors (with helmets and
power belts) to portray a man’s ideal body rather than his actual battle dress. We do not
know, therefore, at what time the Greeks gave up the old berserk style and ceased to fight
naked. Backward areas of Greece still fielded naked fighters in Classical and Hellenistic
times: tribesmen like the Aetolians fought barefoot; Spartan youths in their Krypteia year
fought naked with only a dagger. 16 Later, naked Celts influenced the Greeks: Jason in
Apollonios’ Argonautica, fought naked to be a greater hero, an ideal the Greeks adopted
from the Celts in their third-century battles against them.
Homeric warriors like Hector, when overcome with “wolfishness,” fought in a rage, a
custom inherited from the Indo-European past. There are even traces of the belief that
warriors in a berserk fury are wound-proof. When Hector raged against the Greeks,
Teucer, who with his arrows shot the Trojans down one by one, hissed: “I cannot shoot
this mad dog!” He tried, but Apollo sidetracked the arrow. Plutarch likewise thought of
the Spartan Isadas, who in 375 BC flung himself naked into battle, that “his courage
earned him the protection of some god.” 17
Fighting naked was once well known in ancient Italy too. Rome’s aristocrats fought
from horseback wearing only a loin cloth, a helmet, and greaves. They did so to be fast
and nimble rather than reckless (though that frame of mind was not unknown among
them either). 18 Looking back at old Italy’s prowess, Vergil calls the hero Herminius
Great-souled, great-bodied, greatly armed warrior,
flowing blond hair on his helmless head,
bare-shouldered, unafraid of wounds
huge that he was, fighting uncovered. 19
Ancient Italic warriors, then, not only shared the Indo-European wolf-warrior style but
also the berserk style of fighting bare-chested and barefooted, shouting, flowing-haired,
unafraid of wounds, and often in single combat. 20 Their get-up bespeaks a berserk-like
trance of recklessness and a thirst for fame that goaded them to awesome efforts. 21 Even
Roman generals at the time of the Empire, not at the whim of their feelings, hoped to gain
an image of bravery by leading their men bare-headed, without a helmet. 22
Celts were famous for their naked warriors who, for fighting gear, wore only belt,
shield, sword, and helmet. The well-known statue from Hirschlanden shows such a
warrior on foot, while a ceramic relief from the Magdalensberg in Austria portrays a halfnude
Celtic warrior on horseback. 23 Not all half-naked warriors need have fought in
reckless ecstasy, but Celts easily fell prey to it. 24 At Telamon in Italy, in 225 BC, they
wore only trousers and capes, while their Gaesati spearmen in the forefront, to bluster,
threw off even these. 25 Gaesati berserks also wore golden neckbands to dare the enemy to

Ancient Germanic warriors 54
come and get them. 26 In 189 BC the Celts of Asia Minor fought madly naked, exposing
their bare, white skin, so the blood of their wounds would show to greater effect and to
their greater glory. The Romans, having long ago shed the berserk style for “rational”
fighting, knew how to deal with foes and blinded by rage: shooting them down with
arrows, javelins, and slingshot, they avoided hand-to-hand fighting. 27 Against Romans,
reckless fighting was self-murder, yet the Celts gave it up too slowly to save themselves
from being ground down between Romans and Germani.
Trajan’s berserks
In 102 BC a scare-report made the rounds in Rome: the Cimbri, crossing the Alps, went
naked through snow and ice. Ever since then, in Roman eyes Germanic warriors, like the
Celts formerly, stood out for being naked. They are found thus on Trajan’s Column in
scene 36, where eight bare-chested warriors that follow the emperor are likely to be
Germani (Figure 0.2). The eight warriors fall into three groups. The man furthest back to
the left wears baggy trousers and wields a club. One or two of the men above him may
also be club-wielders. The shirt-wearer in the middle represents the Germanic Buri-
Armilausi allies. 28 But who are the men nearest the emperor?
They are barefoot, as is shown by a single bare foot, seen to the right of the window in
Figure 0.2. That foot cannot belong to the shirt-wearer: it is a right foot with its big toe to
the left, while the shirt-wearer’s own right leg points forward and thus is altogether out of
range. The single, bare foot, then, must belong to the man above and behind the shirtwearer,
hence to one of the youths that follow the emperor. 29 It mattered to the artist to
put this foot into the picture, even at an awkward place, for it told viewers that the young
men were barefoot, which identified them as remarkable fighters. Romans would not
overlook such a thing: Vergil goes out of his way to describe old-style Italic warriors who
took the field with one foot bare. 30 What is more, when we see Trajan’s youthful
followers once more, a little further up on the Column, they are again barefoot (Figures
5.2, 5.3).
Three youths, more handsome still when the Column was new, follow Trajan closely
(Figure 5.1).
Free from the unkempt barbarian look, the three are portrayed strikingly young—the
Column depicts no other group of soldiers this young. The first youth, next to Trajan, has
a shock of curly hair also shown in scenes 40 and 42 (Figures 5.2, 5.3). 31 The hair of the
second and third men, unlike that of the others, falls in long, straight strands toward the
forehead like Trajan’s own hair in some of his portraits. Straight hair, to Roman artists,
betokened fierceness of character. 32 These youths may well be Trajan’s escort, for
bodyguards of Roman emperors, like those of Germanic chieftains, had to be young, of
the same age, and handsome. Moreover, guards tended to follow

Naked berserks 55
Figure 5.1 The emperor and his
barefoot followers. Trajan’s Column,
scene 36 (detail of Figure 0.2). Photo:
Deutsches Archäologisches Institut,
Rome, Inst. Neg. 71.2686.
the emperor’s hairstyle. 33 The youth and beauty of soldiers are known to have caught
Trajan’s eyes, while emperors, by and large, preferred Germanic guards for being blond
and tall. 34
The young men lack body armor and helmets, their only protection being oval shields.
Barefooted, they are more reckless but also faster than merely bare-chested fighters,
which is why the Column painstakingly portrays them as barefooted in all three scenes
where they appear. Their weapons are hidden, but they had swords, for they wield them
in scene 40 (Figure 5.2).
Scene 40 shows two of Trajan’s young, bare-chested, barefooted, and curly haired
followers. The one to the right has his scabbard hanging from the belt without a baldric.
As bare-chested warriors in the Rhineland wore their swords thus, the relief is quite
accurate here. 35
The barefooted fighter to the left wears a baldric to which the scabbard of his sword is
fastened by means of an eyelet. The scabbard is noticeably narrower than any others
shown breadthwise (as, for example, the scabbards of the auxiliaries further left and in
the upper right of scene 40). The artist thus may have wanted to mark here a foreign
warrior with an unusually narrow, ribbed, foreign type of sword. 36 He drew from life, for
Germanic tribesmen indeed fought with such rapiers, witness the second-century,

Ancient Germanic warriors 56
Figure 5.2 Two barefooted, barechested
warriors fighting with rapiers.
Trajan’s Column, scene 40. Photo:
Deutsches Archäologisches Institut,
Rome, Inst. Neg. 89.764.
narrow-bladed, ribbed swords found at Vimose in Denmark. Since mainly tribes along
the Elbe river forged and wielded these rapiers and scabbards with eyelets, Trajan’s
youthful followers seem to be Elbgermanen fighting with swords and in a fencing style
brought from home. 37
Lordlier than the spear, the long sword is more suited for single combat than for the
battle line. Hence throughout antiquity and the Middle Ages the sword was the weapon of
champions, leaders, and berserks who might sally from shield walls for daring deeds. The
helmet wearers further to the left in scene 36 of the Column are likewise elite troops and
sword-fighters. Saxo Grammaticus in the thirteenth century reveals something of the
sword-fighters’ spirit when he adds to the gift of a sword the wish that its iron strength
may sharpen the point of the owner’s soul. 38
The youths of scenes 36 and 40 appear once more, slightly higher up on the Column,
in scene 42 (Figure 5.3). 39

Naked berserks 57
Figure 5.3 Two bare-footed
swordsmen (middle and right
foreground). Trajan’s Column, scene
42. Photo: Deutsches Archäologisches
Institut, Rome, Inst. Neg. 41.1336.
Here the emperor gives a speech to thank the men who won the battle at Adamklissi.
No weapons are shown, though the soldiers do hold shields. The legionaries with their
standards wear strip armor, the auxiliaries wear chain mail and helmets, but Trajan’s
young followers are bare-chested and bare-footed. They must have fought outstandingly
well, for they loom large among those praised by the emperor, and unlike others who are
seen from the back, they turn halfway to the viewer. The one to the left, youthful, cleanshaven,
and rugged, strikingly holds the middle of the scene. The one to the right is a
towering figure, almost a head taller than the men next to him. This is not happenstance,
for his tall build is to mark him a northerner, a tower of strength, and a berserk. 40
Why did the young men with Trajan rush to battle not only bare-chested but also barefooted?
Being barefoot hardly helped in battle, but it was a way to steel oneself against

Ancient Germanic warriors 58
pain and strengthen the will to overcome it. Spartans and Aetolians went barefoot to
proclaim their toughness and scorn of wounds. 41 British Celts went barefoot because it
helped in crossing their marshlands, and so they do even on Trajan’s Column where they
run about as nimble stone-throwers and slingers. 42 Some Gauls and Germani, on the other
hand, fought barefoot “for love of fame and out of daring.” That is why Gaesati spearmen
in the battle at Telamon fought fully naked: greater nakedness betokened greater daring.
Even in the Rome of the Republic this had been so. 43 For the same reasons, it seems, the
young men of Trajan’s warband dared to rush into battle barefoot, outdoing all other
warriors in nakedness. As for fame, Tacitus in his Germania says that wives and mothers
would count and examine the wounds obtained in battle—for which the commentaries
give no reason, but which is well illustrated by Livy’s report of Celtic fighting: wounds
were glorious, and nakedness showed them to best effect. 44 Attacking recklessly, unshod,
and bare-chested, Trajan’s young followers may be called berserks, even though the
Column does not show them overcome by madness—fighting this naked was mad
enough.
Paul the Deacon says that the Heruls in the war against the Lombards in AD 560 wore
only loincloths, “whether for speed or out of scorn for wounds.” Both reasons may apply
to Trajan’s berserks who indeed may be Heruls. 45 Speed greatly mattered to the
unarmored who ran toward the enemy through a hail of spears, arrows, and slingshot. To
all, however, the principle was the same: the more naked a warrior, the more reckless and
brave. 46
The principle applies also to the warrior in a sleeveless shirt in scene 36 (Figure 0.2).
His dress, slightly fuller than that of the bare-chests, is a very specific war garb,
recognized as such by the Roman artist: surely the tribal costume of the Armilausi (“The
Sleeveless”). Saxo Grammaticus records that the legendary eighth-century Danish king
Harald Wartooth once gave proof of his bravery by facing enemy spears with his chest
unguarded, wearing a shirt that only reached up to his armpits. Such a shirt, then, brought
a warrior honor for his daring: the tribal name of the “Sleeveless” broadcast their
prowess. 47
Since bare-chested warriors catch the eye, Roman triumphal art often portrays them.
Their wild looks were to frighten, but when they served in the emperor’s army, their
loyalty marked the emperor as ruler of the whole world who gathers, from the ends of the
earth, hosts of fighters against those who stand in his way. 48 In scene 36 of Trajan’s
Column (Figure 5.1) the emperor’s barefooted followers convey this message. Their
presence is not an empty cliché of triumphal art, for they are the men next to the emperor
in a scene that portrays the events leading up to the decisive battle of the war. Since the
Column’s purpose was to show the greatness of Trajan’s deeds, the warriors around him
had to be portrayed believably: the reliefs could not stray so far from the truth as to make
the emperor lead barefooted warriors had he not done so. Besides, barefooted Germanic
swordsmen, as we will see, are known also from first-century gravestones in the
Rhineland, although on Trajan’s Column they could not appear in their breathtaking role
as horse-stabbers since the reliefs do not show enemy horsemen that dare fight. After the
Moesian campaign, the barefoot youths, unlike other trousered tribesmen, are no longer
seen on Trajan’s Column. 49 Nevertheless, in the crowded framework of the Column’s
reliefs they are represented as fully as could be: even the famed Mauri horsemen occur
only once. The Column’s inscription says that it was commissioned by the senate, and the

Naked berserks 59
conservative senate surely preferred the legions: 50 the troops must not appear too motley
but truly Roman. 51 This would explain why the Column shows Trajan’s berserks in three
scenes only. Yet in the decisive campaign they are the emperor’s most outstanding attack
force.
They are also nearest the emperor. Their nearness to the emperor, and their Romanstyle,
short-cropped hair, marks them as guardsmen, very likely the infantry part of
Trajan’s Singulares bodyguard. Singulares horsemen usually wore Roman auxiliary dress
and equipment but also kept up their native Germanic fighting styles such as swimming
rivers under arms and hurling barbed spears. 52 As governor of Roman Germany until he
became emperor in AD 96, Trajan had a guard of Germanic Pedites and Equites
Singulares. He kept the horsemen of that guard as his well-known Equites Singulares
Augusti and built them a fort in Rome. In the early years of his reign when he still faced
opposition he is not likely to have given up his Pedites Singulares either. Whether or not
he ever brought them to Rome, he may well have used them in the Dacian war of AD
101–102. 53 Pedites Singulares were provincial elite troops who might also keep their
native fighting styles—witness the guard or attack troops of the Roman governor in
Britain, the barefoot Pedites Singulares Britanniciani, who likewise went to the Dacian
war. 54 In Germany, an elite native fighting style was the naked berserk or Herul attack
shown in Figure 5.2.
Icelandic sagas know two kinds of berserks, those whose personality made them
anger-prone, and others whose role in battle called for them to become berserk at a
certain turn of events. Berserks of the latter kind served among the guard of Nordic kings.
Events at the death of Caligula show that one is not far wrong even in calling a Roman
emperor’s guard “berserk.” When in AD 41 Caligula was murdered, Josephus says:
News of Caligula’s death first reached the Germani. They were the
emperor’s guard, named after the nation from which they are recruited. It
is a national trait of theirs to be carried off by emotions more than other
barbarians, because they reason less about what they do. Their bodies are
strong and they achieve much at the first onrush against those whom they
see as their enemies. They were shocked when they learned of Caligula’s
murder… With swords drawn they burst out from the palace to find the
emperor’s murderers. 55
The guardsmen went on to kill several senators, and to hold hostage, at sword point, the
whole theater on the Palatine, teeming as it was with Roman nobility. Although no naked
blustering may have been involved (and perhaps none was needed), their violent anger as
a body of warriors allows one to call them “berserks.” As the following will show, it was
typical for a warband to turn berserk to avenge their slain leader.
Scorning armor in the Roman army: Emperor Julian
When Caesar moved the Roman frontier to the Rhine, he began to recruit northern
warriors for the Roman army. Later emperors enrolled more and more of them. 56 Under
Trajan (98–117), bare-chested berserks are seen for the first time in the emperor’s escort.

Ancient Germanic warriors 60
Thereafter, the role of unarmored warriors in the emperor’s guard grew steadily—that is,
those berserk or berserk-like.
Caracalla (211–217) raised his bodyguard from warriors beyond the Rhine and
Danube and promoted them to centurions in other units. He wore Germanic dress in the
field—long trousers and a long-sleeved shirt—and ordered the whole army to wear this.
A fair number of Germani must have served not only in his bodyguard but in the
praetorian guard as well, for only the tallest were drafted into the guard, and northerners
were tall. Hence, when soon after Caracalla’s death Macrinus allowed the praetorians to
shed their scale-cuirasses and their curved shields, they responded with enthusiasm and a
great eagerness to fight. 57 This flew in the face of Roman tradition: praetorians had
always been heavy-armed troops. Besides, it was tactically uncalled for, as the enemy
were Elagabalus’ heavy Roman legions. Macrinus’ men lost, but the enthusiasm
unleashed among them by shedding their armor points to an outburst of northern reckless
fighting.
Later, in AD 296, would-be-emperor Allectus fought among his Frankish guards,
dressed as they were: in shirt or coat only, without armor. 58 Likewise during the conquest
of Italy in AD 311, Constantine’s victorious horse guards wore no armor, only helmets,
while the opposing guardsmen of Maxentius were burdened with knee-length hauberks. 59
Wearing a helmet but no armor was a berserk custom from the Bronze Age to the time of
the Icelandic sagas. Nearer the end of the Empire, when most of Rome’s elite troops were
Germanic, Gratian (375–383) allowed his men to shed first their cuirasses, then also their
helmets. 60
As the berserk fighting spirit of mad attack began to pervade the Roman army, it
changed its discipline and tactics. In AD 354 Constantius II won a battle against the
Alamanni when three of his officers, Arintheus, Seniauchus, and Bappo, rushed the
enemy in disorderly, wild lunges: non iusto proelio sed discursionibus. 61 Carefully
planned movements of units gave way once more to rash attack and heroic single combat.
In another incident in AD 360 at the siege of Bezabde in Mesopotamia, Constantius II’s
keenest troops took off their helmets so the emperor could see who fought best—and
Persian bowmen shot down many. In the late Roman army the Germanic warriors’
yearning to outdo others dulled Roman order and drill: their wild, free spirit prevailed. 62
Later Roman emperors, fighting in the midst of their foreign guardsmen,
understandably took on some of their guards’ fighting style and mind-set. 63 Constantine,
as we have seen, posed as a buck-warrior. Emperor Julian (355–363), brought up by a
Gothic teacher, liked the straightforward warriors from the Rhine and found their spirit
kindred to his:
I am more churlish, fiercer, and more headstrong than Cato, just as the
Celts are more so than the Romans, for I was among the Celts and
Germani and the Black Forest as soon as I became a man. Spending much
time there, like a hunter among wild animals, wrestling with them, I met
men who know not how to fawn and flatter, but only how to behave
simply and frankly to all men alike … Our characters being much alike,
they loved me so that they had the heart to take up arms for me. 64

Naked berserks 61
“Wrestling with animals” seems strange to modern hunters, but in earlier times hunting
could be a true fight between man and animal. 65 Germanic warriors had the openness and
frankness that came from their wonted freedom and from having overcome fear. Julian
felt for them a sympathy of life and character. 66 He even claimed to be a “Celt” himself,
although beer, to him, reeked of ram, while wine tasted like nectar. 67
Tellingly, Julian also took on the berserk warrior spirit. He wore no cuirass when he
rode into the Persian ranks during the ill-fated retreat from Ktesiphon in AD 363.
Ammianus says that Julian “forgot about his cuirass” (oblitus loricae), which has often
been understood to mean that he forgot his cuirass in haste or in a fit of absentmindedness.
The word oblitus, however, can also mean that Julian purposely put the
cuirass out of his mind and plunged recklessly into the fray to rouse his followers to
fury—iras sequentium excitans, as Ammianus says. 68 Julian’s derring-do to stir others to
fighting madness thus was a berserk feat by an emperor who, from first to last, put his
trust in northern warriors and led them, as they expected it, from in front with wild
sallies. 69 Fittingly, they avenged him in reckless berserk style. 70
In the battle at Adrianople in AD 378, the spirit of headlong attack sealed the fate of
Emperor Valens and the Western Empire. Rome lost the battle because its army, no
longer Roman but consisting mainly of foreigners, charged the foe, against orders, too
early. The elite Scholae troops thus upset the emperor’s battle plan. When they fell
back—also a Germanic custom, befitting more lightly armed troops—they brought on the
great rout, a fact that some historians overlook, but that was nevertheless the proximate
cause for the fall of the Roman Empire. 71
Berserks may have helped Assyria a great deal, for after Tukulti-Ninurta, Assyria rose
meteor-like in the wars of the time. Berserks, fighting fearlessly, likewise proved useful
to Rome for a long time. Yet their stormy unruliness needed to be kept in line. Tukulti-
Ninurta and Trajan had their foreign warriors well in hand, and in AD 357 Julian still
could hold back teeth-gnashing warriors until the right moment. 72 Valens in 378 could
not—so he went under, and with him the Empire.
Berserks in the early Middle Ages
In the early Middle Ages berserks are well in evidence. Paul the Deacon, as we have
seen, says of the sixth-century, berserk-like Heruls that in the war against the Lombards
in AD 560 they wore only loincloths, “whether for speed or out of scorn for wounds.”
Both reasons may be true: Heruls, swordsmen like Trajan’s berserks, were widely sought
after for their speed. 73
It is not only Roman triumphal reliefs, gravestones, statuettes, and coins that portray
Germanic warriors bare-chested, 74 Germanic art of the early Middle Ages does so too.
Bare-chested fighting in the sixth century is seen on a foil from the helmet found in grave
12 at Vendel: two unarmored, bare-headed warriors fight a duel. Their bare chests mark
the same daring spirit as that of Trajan’s followers. On one of the Torslunda dies the hero
with the bound bear is bare-chested. 73 The Swedish custom of fighting bare-chested thus
stands in a Germanic tradition and comes not, as some have claimed, from late-Roman
gladiators. 76

Ancient Germanic warriors 62
Woden and Balder, in their role of rousing warriors to fighting madness, danced the
war dance naked like berserks (Figures 11.2, 11.3). The nakedness of berserks thus had
also a mythic and cultic side and was bound to religious ritual. Over time, however, the
need for berserks to strut naked grew less. As more warriors wore mail, they could signal
outstanding bravery in battle by throwing off their hauberk or flinging their shield on
their back as they do in Icelandic sagas and Saxo Grammaticus. 77 By the seventh-century,
the time-honored spear dance too could be done fully dressed, as seen on the decorative
foils of the helmet from Sutton Hoo. 78
During the early Middle Ages, many Indo-European nations still knew the naked
warrior style. Irish legends speak of berserk fighting madness. The churl in “Bricriu’s
Feast” praises the Ulaid, telling them that they “surpass the hosts of every land in anger
and prowess and weaponry, in rank and pride and dignity, in honor and generosity and
excellence,” while in the tale of the Táin, warriors come to battle “stark naked but for
their weapons.” These are true berserk ideals. 79 In Eastern Europe, sixth-century
Sklavenoi (Slav) warriors fought without shirts, says Procopius. Like everyone, they must
have owned shirts, but they took them off to fight in the traditional naked-warrior style.
Saxo Grammaticus in his early thirteenth-century “Gesta Danorum” confirms this when
he mentions Slavs of old with very long swords who, like true berserks, threw off their
hauberks and shields as battle began. 80 Iranians too upheld the custom of battle madness
into the Middle Ages, and so did the bare-chested, armring-wearing Indian nairs and
amocs of the Malabar coast who, like berserks, stopped at neither fire nor sword. 81
Berserks in battle
To do deeds of berserk daring was to be mad. 82 Dancing can unleash such madness.
Dancing and being berserk have in common that they allow people for a time to do far
more than they otherwise can, followed, however, by utter exhaustion. Rhythmic song
and dance, as we will see, bonded warriors together, entranced them, and aroused their
fighting frenzy. To be berserk was to be like Woden, the warrior god, whom bracteate
amulets show dancing naked, wide-eyed, shouting, and snorting. 83
Tacitus speaks of young Germanic warriors who danced with weapons in hand. Being
naked, these youths were berserks. Tukulti-Ninurta’s Assyrian berserks, Celtic Gaesati,
and Germanic youths, but also Aztec and Maya warriors, all danced naked. 84
Naked warriors—and “naked” here can mean anything from altogether without clothes
to dressed but without armor—were not only faster than those burdened by armor, they
proudly flaunted their muscular bodies and scorn of wounds. When in 216 BC the
Romans at Cannae saw Hannibal’s bare-chested Gauls, they took fright: men look
somehow more frightening when bare-chested. Men also feel braver and more
threatening when bare-chested: news media love to broadcast football hooligans strutting
about bare-chested, showing off their recklessness. 85 To fight naked thus was a
psychologically effective warrior style.
The flashing eyes of berserks are not easy to show in pictures, but they are well
recorded in literature. Tukulti-Ninurta’s furious berserks, as we have seen, flashed their
eyes. Hector’s eyes flashed as he raged, and Ammianus says of the Alamanni in 357 that
fury shone from their eyes. From the Middle Ages we hear that Beowulf s eyes flashed,

Naked berserks 63
that madness glared in the eyes of warriors, that Woden was flame-eyed, and that King
Óláf s foes quailed at the sight of his asp-keen eyes. 86 Looks to frighten the foe were a
widely used weapon.
Snorting is another telling trait of angry warriors. Tukulti-Ninurta’s men snorted in
1228 BC, and so did the Alamanni in AD 357. Ammianus Marcellinus says that they,
being eager fighters, “snorted wildly as if they would destroy all that stood against them
by a blast of fury.” In the early Middle Ages one of Woden’s names is Thrasarr,
“snorter,” to which corresponds the early medieval warrior name Drasulf, “Snorting
Wolf.” 87 Saxo speaks of nine brothers, perhaps berserks, “emitting wild snorts
accompanied by ugly gestures, acting out their battle maneuvers.” 88 Throughout history,
then, flashing angry looks and snorting were signs of berserkdom. Woden as leader of
berserks showed both.
Shape-shifting was also characteristic for berserks. Tukulti-Ninurta’s warriors in the
second millennium BC took “forms strange as Anzu.” On sixth-century bracteate amulets
Woden changes into a bird of prey, and Snorri Sturluson knows many shapes the god
could take in battle. 89 Shifting into animal shapes had much in common with being
overcome by battle-madness, which is why bear- and wolf-warriors fought so berserklike
and wound-proof. 90
Celtic and Germanic berserks in the grip of fury shifted shapes by frightfully twisting
their faces and bodies. CúChulainn did so in Irish legend. Tenth-century Egil, as he came
to claim the wergeld for his slain brother, showed the king how angry he was by drooping
one eyebrow down towards his cheek, raising the other up to the roots of his hair, and
moving his eyebrows alternately up and down. Mad shape-shifting thus is a trait of Indo-
European berserks, whether Vedic Indian, Celtic, Germanic, or in TukultiNinurta’s
service. 91
The fast attack with swords, often likened to storm or fire, suited madly raging
warriors best. Tukulti-Ninurta’s berserks fought like a whirling storm. Vedic warriors
worshiped the storm god Vayu. Cimbri rushed into battle with the speed of a raging fire.
Goths at Adrianople attacked “like a thunderclap in the mountains,” and Woden’s battle
in the tenth-century AD was a storm. 92
In the well-ordered array of the shield-castle, berserks no doubt had to hold shields,
and the sagas have them equipped with shields, since the honor of warriors called for it.
Their hour of reckless fighting came when the enemy line was to be broken, when a
wedge was to be driven forward, or the king himself surged ahead. 93 Ammianus noted
that in AD 357 at Strassburg when Alamannic kings waded into Roman lines, their
warriors exposed themselves to danger blazing with fury. 94
The Old English poem on the Battle of Maldon, written soon after 991, tells how the
men of Byrhtnoth’s warband threw all caution to the wind when their leader was killed.
Vowing to avenge him at the cost of their lives, two warriors pledged they would not
yield one foot of ground, which seems to have been a berserk way of fighting. Being
Christian heroes, they are not called berserks and are not naked or without shield and
hauberk, but not to yield any ground at all was berserk-like, showy, and risky. It was also
a trait of fighting madmen everywhere, as with the no-retreat societies of North American
Indians. 95
Icelandic sagas and Saxo Grammaticus make much of the berserk fighting technique
of wielding a sword with both hands. This meant forgoing the safety of a shield while

Ancient Germanic warriors 64
dealing much stronger two-handed strokes. When Swedish anatomists, examining the
skeletons of men slain at Visby in 1361, found almost unbelievably powerful sword
strokes—a man had both legs cut off by one blow and heads were cloven right through
their steel coifs—they thought that berserk rage must have strengthened the warriors who
dealt such blows. Two-handed sword strokes rather than berserk rage may be the answer,
though. Fighting with both hands must have been more than an act of despair: no doubt it
was a well-trained berserk fighting style. 96
The berserk mind
Tacitus wrote of the mounted and heavily armored Sarmatians that all their manhood lay
outside them; that is, in their horses and weapons. Germani, on the other hand, according
to Dio, “fought with their bodies rather than weapons.” 97 The reason for this was not, as
Romans claimed, that northerners had little to live for and therefore mindlessly rushed to
their death. Rather, it was part of a warrior ideal, spelled out by Vergil when he called
bare-shouldered Herminius “great-souled.” Northern warriors were “great-souled” for
wishing to win through their own prowess. The ideal of winning in a fair fight, going
back to the second millennium BC and known to Homer, was still held by Emperor Julian
in the fourth century AD. Germanic armies, in this spirit, were ready to settle beforehand
on a time and place for battle. Vandal warriors followed the same ideal when in the
decisive battle at Tricamarum in AD 533 they fought only with their swords. Maurice,
around AD 600, said that Franks, Lombards, and other blond peoples scorn dirty tricks. 98
The ideal of fairness in battle, so as to show one’s true strength, also guided Beowulf in
his fight with Grendel, and later still the English in the battle of Maldon. 99
Berserks could trust above all in their own fighting skills. They also had faith in
Woden. As Greeks thought gods protected mad fighters, so berserks of the early Middle
Ages believed that where they raged, Woden blinded the eyes and blunted the weapons of
their foes. Thus Saxo, in the thirteenth century, tells of legendary Harald Wartooth, king
of Vik:
Clad in a red cloak, his hair held by a band tricked out with gold, he
advanced on the enemy, quietly trusting to the knowledge of his luck
rather than weapons—so much that he seemed to be dressed for a party,
not war. But his mind was unlike his outfit, for unarmored, wearing only
his royal insignia, he went before the armed battalions and gave the raging
dangers of war a chance. Yet the spears flung at him could no more harm
him than if their blades pointed backward. When others saw this fighter’s
woundlessness, they were taken aback and shame spurred them to attack
him still more fiercely. Harald, unwounded, killed them with his sword or
sent them fleeing. 100
We do not know for certain whether naked and half-naked Germanic warriors of
antiquity thought themselves wound-proof. The psychological and physiological state of
fighting frenzy with its rise of adrenaline levels may have led to such a belief, for
adrenalin “dilates the airways to improve breathing and narrows blood vessels in the skin

Naked berserks 65
and intestine so that an increased flow of blood reaches the muscles, allowing them to
cope with the demands of the exercise. During surgery, it is injected into tissues to reduce
bleeding.” Buoyed by an “adrenalin rush,” frenzied fighters may well have thought
themselves stronger and less vulnerable than others. 101 Since the Hirpi Sorani wolfwarriors
of ancient Italy could not be hurt by fire or iron, and since the same was true of
medieval berserks, it is likely that Germanic naked fighters of antiquity too felt they were
wound-proof. 102
Battlefield rage, shown for all to see, and hence not just the madness of despair, is
widely found among Indo-European and Germanic warriors, but there is no telling how
many fought in this state of mind, nor how often they did this. There certainly were some
limits to fighting madness: in a stealth attack under Roman guidance, half-naked clubwielders
had to be altogether quiet (Figure 7.1). On the other hand, overblown bravery in
the fray of battle could turn to sudden panic: fleeing berserks dragged more than one
army into a rout. 103
Words and concepts shared by Indo-Europeans suggest that fighting madly was a very
old custom. The word for mad attack, eis-, shared by Vedic, Iranian, and Germanic
warriors, implies that the berserk fighting style comes from the time before the dispersal
of the Indo-Europeans. 104 Dumézil put it thus:
Aēšma [to Zoroastrians] is one of the worst evils, and later, in the eyes of
the Mazdaeans, the most frightful demon, who bodies forth the destructive
fury of society. Yet it only personifies as something bad a quality that
gives the Ŗg Veda, from the same root, an adjective of praise for the
Maruts, the followers of Indra, and for their father, the dreadful Rudra:
işmīn “impetuous” and no doubt “furious.” These words come from the
root of Greek Latin ira, and, it seems, from the Old Norse verb eiskra that
describes the rage of the wild berserk warriors; hence we meet here a
technical term of the Indo-European “warrior bands.” 105
Fighting madness is an ecstatic state of mind. Woden’s name, which lives on in our
“Wednesday,” meant fury, but a fury that included a poet’s ecstasy: Latin vates, “ecstatic
poet,” and Irish fáith, “seer, poet,” come from the same root. In myths, Woden was the
god of the poets. In Old Norse literature, as we will see, berserks spoke poems on the
battlefield. These linguistic and mythological rapports give the berserk mind its place in
Indo-European intellectual and cultural history and confirm the age of that double
ecstasy. 106
The mind of berserk warriors in the second millennium BC may have been much the
same as that of medieval berserk warriors two thousand years later. The English word
“mind,” related to “mania,” comes from the same root as the Sanskrit manas and Greek
menos, both meaning “spirit” as well as “fury.” For Homeric warriors menos was “a
temporary urge of one, many, or all bodily or mental organs to do something specific, an
urge one can see but not influence.” Menos came from the heavens; heroes owed their
great deeds to it, and Indo-European heroic poetry sings its praise. From menos arose
sundry forms of abandoning oneself to a new identity such as wolf- or bear-warrior, or
berserk. As Mircea Eliade put it, “The frenzied berserkir, ferocious warriors realized
precisely the state of the sacred fury (Wut, menos, furor) of the primordial world.” 107

Ancient Germanic warriors 66
Flaunting reckless bravery, chanting, and dancing, were ways to rouse warriors to
battle madness. Berserks, moreover, easily flew into a rage when someone taunted them
or stood in their way: anger over being thwarted made them mad. They did not need to
eat poisonous mushrooms in order to bring on fighting madness as some have claimed. 108
Heroes grew reckless when, like Thorolf, they were about to lose a battle, or when they
avenged a slain leader, as Caligula’s and Julian’s Germanic guards did, or Byrhtnoth’s
warband in the Battle of Maldon and Bothvar Bjarki at Leire. 109
Berserk-like warriors still fought in the Battle of the Standard in 1138 when King
David of Scotland met an Anglo-Norman army. David’s Galwegian and Highland
warriors claimed their right to attack ahead of his armored household knights.
Unarmored, but madly daring, they ran toward the English line, brandishing lances and
swords, only to be shot down by English bowmen. 110 The few who reached the enemy
could do nothing against the armored, dismounted knights who led the defense. When
they fled, they dragged the rest of the Scottish army into a rout. 111 Though no longer
heathen, they fought “trusting in manhood rather than a shield”—the berserk belief that a
man’s scorn of armor shows his bravery and that his daring saves him from wounds.
This belief became ever harder to uphold, and so the berserks’ role in battle shrank. In
the haphazard hand-to-hand fighting at the end of the Bronze Age, mad attackers like
Tukulti-Ninurta’s warriors or Hector and Achilles achieved much, but later they fared
badly against disciplined troops, above all those with archers in their ranks such as the
Romans or the Norman English. 112 Berserk fighting survived longest in small-troop
fighting or single combat as in medieval Scandinavia.
Berserks in Icelandic sagas
In AD 1000, when the Icelanders turned Christian, they forbade the “berserksgangr” as a
heathen cult practice. 113 From then on, no more true wolf-warriors, bear-warriors, or
naked mad fighters were to be seen, and writers were free to draw on their imagination as
well as on tradition. Only Edda and skaldic poems from before that time offer glimpses of
the true berserk warrior style. Sagas, on the other hand, with their rich descriptions and
dramatic events, come from Christian times, and give a somewhat foggy view. They
blend the warrior styles of wolf-warriors, bear-warriors, longhairs, and naked mad
warriors into a literary type called “berserk,” no longer naked but still scorning armor.
This makes for gripping tales, due to the authentic traits of Woden’s erstwhile ecstatic
warriors. 114
Some sagas speak of berserks as loathsome bullies, others describe them as
outstanding warriors. The thirteenth-century Barlaam saga even calls Christ “god’s
young berserk” and his twelve disciples “his berserks.” 115 Good or bad, berserks held a
large place in the popular imagination as wild, howling, reckless fighters, huge, strong,
blood-sucking, and mad. Some were giants. 116 Traits not heard of before are that they
could swallow burning coals and, when angered, bit off the rim of their shields. Often
neither fire nor iron could harm them, only clubs or a bite through the windpipe. 117 The
berserks of the sagas have often been described, 118 but their way of fighting needs to be
connected with the ancient Germanic warrior styles. Snorri Sturluson in the Ynglinga
saga, written shortly after AD 1220, says of berserks:

Naked berserks 67
Woden’s men went without hauberks and raged like dogs or wolves. They
bit their shields and were strong like bears or bulls. They killed men, but
neither fire nor iron hurt them. This is called “berserksgangr.”
Snorri still knows surprisingly many of the old naked-warrior (also wolf-and bearwarrior)
traits: rage and lack of armor, a bond with Woden, numbness to pain (shieldbiting),
strength and fierceness, being free from hurt by fire and iron, and action as a
“going.” He compares berserks to wolves and bears, for by his time they embodied also
wolf- and bear-warrior characteristics like howling and biting windpipes.
Egils saga, written in the thirteenth century, says of Harald Fairhair that in the battle
on the Hafrsfjord he had twelve berserks in the bow of his dragonship, his ship in the van.
Snorri Sturluson’s saga of Harald Fairhair likewise has the king man his dragonship with
berserks and bodyguards. 119 Berserks among Vikings thus had the same role as the naked
Gaesati in 212 BC: to open battles. So too did the related Chatti long-hairs.
Quick to quarrel, fearless, and highly skilled in battle, berserks often served in a king’s
guard. King Hrolf at Leire and King Athill at Upsala each had twelve berserks as
champions who defended them against all perils and onsets and won them much wealth.
The number twelve is typical; it recalls the twelve warriors that were the inner circle of
earlier Indo-European warbands, as well as Nordic warbands. 120 Since rulers did not want
to depend wholly on reckless warriors, berserks constituted only a part of their guard.
This was as true of Harald Fairhair and King Hrolf as of Ramses II who had the Shardana
and a native Egyptian guard and Trajan who had naked northern warriors beside his
regular horse guard. 121
Egils saga reports that in the battle on Vin Heath (Brunanburh) in Northumbria in 937,
Thorolf, the Icelandic Viking leader, wore a strong helmet but no hauberk, and in the
press of battle
he became so berserk that he swung his shield round to his back, and took
his spear in both hands. He ran forward, striking or thrusting on both
sides. Men sprang away in all directions, but he killed many… Then
Thorolf drew his sword, striking out on both sides, and his men also
joined the attack. 122
Remarkably, Thorolf went berserk at first with his spear and only after he lost it in
running the enemy leader through did he draw his sword. The gesture of flinging the
shield on one’s back and fighting with both hands is found as early as the fifteenth
century BC in Mycenae. Thirteenth-century BC reliefs in Abydos in Egypt depict Ramses
II’s berserk-like Shardana guard in this way, and archaic Greek warrior statuettes portray
this technique. 123 In Norse literature, flinging the shield on one’s back and gripping the
sword with both hands is the quintessential berserk fighting style. Egils saga and other
sources make it clear that the gesture signaled the will to fight recklessly without regard
to one’s safety, and that it brought fame. No doubt, two-handed sword-fighting was
trained beforehand. 124
Thorolf’s wearing a helmet but no hauberk was an old, aristocratic, and berserk
custom; it is known from the guardian relief at the King’s Gate in the Hittite capital of
Hattusas and the famous Celtic Hirschlanden statue, as well as from coins of Rome’s

Ancient Germanic warriors 68
ancient aristocratic horsemen and reliefs depicting Emperor Constantine’s guard on his
arch in Rome. Several other sagas beside Egils saga speak of it, as does the lay of Hakon
quoted below. 125
Thorolf was not seized by an unforeseen berserk fit, he had prepared for going berserk
by not wearing a hauberk. He had it in his hand when to fight madly. With some warriors
being a berserk was a predisposition handed down from father to son, but with Thorolf it
was a deliberately chosen warrior style. This is true even more so of Norway’s King
Hákon the Good who in 961 also scorned armor:
He threw off his armor
thrust down his mail-coat,
the great-hearted lord,
ere the battle began.
He laughed with his liege-men.
His land would he shield
The gladsome hero
‘neath goldhelm standing. 126
Hákon’s laughter underlines his scorn of wounds. Like a true berserk, he went on to fight
before the line and the standard.
Berserk-like gestures abound in Nordic warrior tales. 127 Among them is the Norse
account of the Battle at Stamford Bridge in 1066 between Harald Hardrada of Norway
and Harald Godwinson of England: when the battle went badly for the Norwegians,
Hardrada turned berserk. “He became so uncontrollably fighting mad that he ran out in
front of the battle line and slashed with both hands”—that is, without his shield. All those
near him fled, but an arrow, shot in his throat, killed him. When his followers Eystein
Orri and his men saw this, they “were so mad that they did not shield themselves for as
long as they could stand upright. Finally they even shed their hauberks. Then it was easy
for the English [bowmen] to find their unprotected parts.” The account may seem
fanciful, 128 but it is the fancy of the traditional berserk fighting style, much like that of
Tukulti-Ninurta’s warriors over two thousand years earlier. Besides, as after Caligula’s
murder, it was typical that a warband turned recklessly berserk to avenge their slain
leader.
Women too could fight berserk-like, for traditionally some women fought alongside
Germanic warriors. 129 Indeed, one of the last known berserks was a woman in North
America. Eiriks saga reports that about AD 1020 the Greenlanders, who under Karlsefni
had come to settle in Vinland, saw a huge host of Skraelings (Indians) bearing down on
them. As the Skraelings flung rocks at them from slings, the Greenlanders fled to a cliff
wall to make their stand. The woman Freydis had stayed indoors. When she went outside
to follow the men, the Skraelings made for her. She snatched the sword of a dead
Greenlander, “freeing her breasts from under her clothes and slapped the naked sword on
them, at which the Skraelings took fright, ran back to their boats and rowed away.
Karlsefni’s men came up to her and praised her courage.” Fighting bare-breasted and

Naked berserks 69
frightening her foes with unwonted, reckless courage, Freydis came close to being a
berserk. 130
Berserks in Saxo Grammaticus
The tales and poems of thirteenth-century Saxo Grammaticus about Denmark’s legendary
kings are closely related to the Icelandic sagas and give a similar picture. Saxo’s
legendary hero Asmund, when he sees that his son has been killed on the battlefield,
wants to die too, but in a blaze of glory he said:
Sword with both hands gripped is best.
Away the shield and bare the breast,
fight with shining blades!
Let our fame for fierceness glow
Keenly let us grind the foe.
Loathsome is a lengthy fight
End our onslaught with their flight. 131
Having said that, Asmund took the sword in both hands and with the shield flung on his
back regardless of the risk, killed several foes. Later he came to grief. 132
Of Orvendil, father of Hamlet, Saxo says “the heat of his heart made him keener to get
at the foe than to armor his body. He did not care for a shield and laid both hands to the
sword. Nor did his daring lack results.” 133
King Hrólf s champion Bothvar Bjarki, the bear-warrior, bids his twelve followers as
they go to a hopeless fight: “Listen, brave ones! No one shall clad his doomed body in a
hauberk! Be it the last thing to strap on mail! The shields go on the back, let us fight barechested!
Put gold on your hands and rings on your arms so they will strike stronger and
deal a bitter wound! No one turn backward!” 134 Bjarki’s men are to fight like berserks,
bare-chested and without shields. It is of great interest to see that they also wear gold on
their hands, very likely part of the berserk style, to taunt the enemy. 135 The golden rings
on the right arm may be a symbol of being in the warband. 136
Bjarki’s men, according to Saxo, must not yield ground, which may have been part of
the berserk warrior style. The laws of Viking warrior bands forbade giving ground, a
further hint that this was a berserk custom. Even the tenth-century English warband in
The Battle of Maldon, swearing not to give ground, may have acted as berserks, avenging
the death of their leader. 137
Berserks like Bjarki are found in the visual arts as well. Four twelfth-century chess
sets, found on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, boast rooks who bite their shields
like berserks to flaunt their readiness for reckless fighting (Figure 5.4).
Carved in walrus ivory in twelfth-century Scandinavia, these rooks are Christians, for
they stand next to bishops, yet they show traits of true berserks. Not only do they bite the
rim of their shield, they wear a helmet but no

Ancient Germanic warriors 70
Figure 5.4 Berserk biting his shield.
Ivory chess piece from the Isle of
Lewis, Outer Hebrides. Photograph
15880-front. Copyright: The Trustees
of the National Museums of Scotland.
hauberk; hence they scorn armor. Like Bjarki’s men, they wear a ring on the right arm.
Besides, as rooks they are the king’s battle lords and champions, much as in the sagas.
King Harald Wartooth, says Saxo, at one time gave striking proof of his bravery:
wearing a shirt that only reached up to his armpits, he faced spears with his chest
unguarded. The shirt resembles the war-garb of the Armilausi shown on scene 36 of
Trajan’s Column (Figure 0.2), which, as the tribal name implies, was worn with pride as

Naked berserks 71
a token of bravery. Saxo therefore very likely echoes here a tradition through the
centuries. As Harald wore this shirt in a specific battle, it was a fighting style one could
adopt, or not, at will. 138
King Haldan, according to Saxo, overcame several berserks. Of these Sivald and his
seven sons were typical in that they were skilled in sorcery and often, in sudden fits of
madness, bellowed wildly, bit their shields, swallowed hot coals, and walked through any
fire. Haldan killed them with an oak he had torn out of the ground and likewise smashed
the berserk Harthben who had been wreaking his Iust on princesses. Harthben was said to
be nine cubits tall, which at 4.5 meters is more than twice as tall as the tallest men.
Harthben had twelve champions as mess-mates to hold him down when he had a fit of
madness. When Haldan challenged him, he became so mad he took hard bites out of the
rim of his shield, gulped down fiery coals, walked through blazing flames, and went so
berserk that he killed six of his own champions. Berserks could withstand fire since the
“heat” that their fury created within them overcame the outer heat of the fire. 139
Grimmi, also a ravager of princesses, by his gaze blunted Haldan’s first sword, but
Haldan drew another and cut off Grimmi’s hand. That berserks could blunt the first
sword of their foes with their gaze is known from several other instances in Saxo and the
sagas. It is an uncanny skill they share with Woden and the Master Grendel. 140
In the sagas and Saxo, berserks are notorious for taking other men’s wives or
daughters against their will. If berserks are indeed related to Chatti longhairs, a reason for
their demands is easy to find. Having no families of their own and being outstanding
warriors as well as honored guests, custom may have allowed them to sleep with the wife
or a daughter of their host, as Rigs did in the Eddic poem of the Rigsthula. If thwarted,
they would have fought over this, as, according to Saxo and the sagas, Nordic berserks
did so often. It fits this theory that unlike robbers they brought the women home again
after a week or two. 141
The sagas and the legends of Saxo Grammaticus offer a rich tableau of berserk
thoughts and deeds. To be sure, the more than two hundred years between heathen
berserks and the writing down of sagas must have changed these tales very much. They
thus reflect berserk warriordom only as in a broken mirror. Nevertheless, such berserk
fighting techniques as being the first to open battles, scorning armor, flinging one’s shield
on the back, or wearing only a helmet, match earlier evidence of mad, naked warriors and
thus report true features of the ancient berserk style. This being so, there is a certain
likelihood that other berserk customs known only from sagas and Saxo but not, or little,
from antiquity, such as two-handed sword fighting, yielding no ground, wearing rings,
snorting and snarling, howling like wolves, and biting through windpipes, also come
from antiquity.
Such conclusions are tenuous. There is no telling whether shield-biting is ancient, for
it is odd and not known from before the time of the sagas. And while we hear that Italic
wolf-warriors of antiquity could not be hurt by fire or iron, we do not know whether
ancient Germani too held this belief about wolf-warriors, bear-warriors, and berserks,
along with the related belief that one could kill them only with clubs. Even so, what we

Ancient Germanic warriors 72
know of the history of Indo-European berserks shows the abidingness of warrior styles. 142
The berserk warrior style lasted as long as native culture stayed intact. The berserks’
social underpinning lay in their role as elite warriors, often as guards and champions of
kings, or as kings themselves. Their religious underpinning was belief in Woden, hence it
took Christinanity to undo the berserk style, as it undid Woden’s wolf- and bear-warrior
styles. 143

6
GHOSTS
Their shields are black, their bodies painted, and, choosing
dark nights for their battles, they spread panic by the fear
and spookiness of an army of ghosts.
Tacitus, Germania
Germanic ghost-warriors, disputed by scholars, are borne out by a Greek parallel. In the
fourth century BC, Athenian youths at the age of 16–18 years spent two years as ephebe
borderguards. Only by doing so could they join the rolls of the army and become full
citizens. The institution, though much revised, had roots in the Bronze Age. The youths
served in frontier forts as lightly armed peripoloi, “those who circle around.” 1 They
engaged also in night-time ambushes, 2 and wore black cloaks. 3 The myth of the Apaturia
festival at which they became full citizens told of Melas, “The Black,” who won a fight
by trickery and seized Melainai, “The Black Country,” through the intervention of
“Night-Dionysos of the black goat skin.”
In ancient Greece, black-dressed hunters who laid traps and set nets at night were
loners like Hippolytos, who lived in the wild. This was the mode of life of Spartan
kryptaia youths as well as Athenian ephebes. 4 In their initiation ceremonies ephebes, notyet-men,
dressed as girls, like Achilles on Skyros. With light weapons, trickery, and
disorganized life in the wild, through stealth and night exploits, Greek ephebes
perpetuated an old warrior style that stood in direct contrast to that of heavily armed
hoplite citizens. 5
All this helps one understand Tacitus’ description of the Harii among the east
Germanic tribes:
Suffice it to mention the strongest tribes [of the Lugii], the Harii,
Helveconae, Manimi, Helisii, and Nahanarvali. Among the Nahanarvali
they show a grove of ancient worship. The high priest is dressed like a
woman, but the gods are called [in Roman translation] Castor and Pollux:
that is the character of their godhead, their name is “Alcis.” There are no
images and no trace of foreign belief, although they are worshiped as
brothers and young men. Moreover, besides leading in strength the
peoples mentioned above, the [Harii] are fierce and heighten their inborn
ferocity by artful means and timing. Their shields are black, their bodies
painted, and, choosing dark nights for their battles, they spread panic by
the fear and spookiness of an army of ghosts. No foe can withstand that
startling and, as it were, underworld-like sight, for in every fight the eyes
are overcome first. 6

Ancient Germanic warriors 74
The fighting style of the Harii closely parallels that of Athenian ephebes. Both appear
black and attack at night. It is of course practical when fighting at night to darken oneself
so as not to be seen: modern soldiers daub their faces for night combat. But while night
attacks are known the world over, they cannot be the only way for an army to fight, as
one must be ready to fight in daylight as well. 7 Among classical Greeks night attacks
were the opposite of regular warfare: the decisive heavy-armed hoplites fought in
daylight in open fields. The same must have been true for Lugii, for as some Athenian
ephebes at ceremonies wore womanly dress to mark them as not-yet-men, so Lugian high
priests of the Alcis officiated in womanly garb. 8 Since Tacitus (implicitly) connects these
priests to black night-warriors, one may infer that Alcis worshipers too were not-yet-men,
worshiping the young warrior gods Castor and Pollux since they themselves were
youths. 9
A mistake in the manuscript tradition makes it uncertain to which tribe the nightfighters
belonged. The manuscripts read alii, “others,” but a tribe or tribal grouping ought
to be meant, for they surpass other tribes in strength. Most scholars thus read Arii
(=Harii), which is palaeographically closest, but others think of Lugii or (implied)
Nahanarvali. 10 Recent studies conclude that the Indo-European word koryos (Germanic
haryaz) means army of the young. 11 The Harii were thus either young warriors of the
Lugii, or a tribe that sprang from young Lugii. 12 In either case, fighting by stealth at night
befits them well, as does the ceremony in women’s dress at the Lugian shrine. It seems
best, therefore, to read [Harii] in Tacitus’ passage. 13
Whether the Harii were a tribe of their own, as Tacitus says, or Lugii youths, it is clear
that ghostly, black, night-fighting youths were a Germanic warrior style. 14 Tacitus could
have had detailed knowledge of Lugii, for Roman traders passed through their land on the
way to the amber-bearing Baltic coast. Very likely they reported what they heard and
saw: one can still hear Lugian bragging in Tacitus’ account. 15 The trustworthiness of that
account is strengthened by the Edda and Icelandic sagas, where netherworld figures are
black and, at the end of the world, an army of the dead under Surt (“The Black One”)
rides to the battle of Ragnarök. 16
Ghosts haunt by frightening. Shades of the dead threaten to take the living to the world
below, and to fight them is grim, for one cannot kill the dead. 17 For these reasons alone it
is likely that Lugian night-warriors played on the “fear and spookiness” of mythical ghost
warriors. 18 From what we know of Indo-European and world-wide parallels as well as
other Germanic warrior styles, the Harii did indeed body forth Woden’s Wild Host. 19
With tribal wolf-warriors, the Harii shared youth, stealth, wildness, and Dioscuri
worship. 20 The two styles thus overlapped, as did other warrior styles—understandably
so, since a tribe could have several youth troops. 21
Romans gladly made use of Germanic bare-bodied night-fighting skills (Figure 7.2),
and strong Indo-European parallels warrant the Lugian institution of ghost warriors.
Blackened night-fighting thus was an Indo-European warrior style of the young, known
among Indians, Iranians, Greeks, and Celts, as well as ancient Germani. 22

Part 3
STRONG MEN

7
CLUB-WIELDERS
They threw huge, fire-hardened clubs at our men, stabbed
those who stood firm with blades in the chest, and broke
through our left wing.
Ammianus Marcellinus
Indo-European club-wielders
Clubs, man’s oldest weapons, are found world-wide. In tribal warfare they played a great
role. Africans trained in their use from boyhood on, Polynesians were famous for their
fearsome clubs, and North American Indians excelled in their use. Clubs also have
drawbacks: “many people have used…a war club light enough to be thrown but heavy
enough to crush,” yet, says Turney-High,
clubs are really poor weapons. Only a powerful man can throw them far.
No one can hurl them with the accuracy of the arrow or even the spear.
They are too heavy for any fighter to carry many of them to battle. Their
manufacture is expensive in time and skill. Worst of all, their slow
movement and large bulk make them easy to see, they are easy to predict,
and therefore very easy to dodge. They must rely on the stunning capacity
of their weight, for their piercing power is nil.
All this is true for primitive bands, but neither horsemen nor the tightly crammed foot
soldiers of more advanced societies can easily dodge the crushing blows of clubs. 1
Wielded by strong men, clubs were also weapons of prestige. 2 Throughout the ages,
Indo-European gods and heroes, such as Indra, Bhima, Vayu, Kŗsaspa, Herakles, and
Thor, fought with clubs in the grand heroic fighting style. A relief from Kernosovka,
north of the Black Sea, dating to about 3000 BC, shows the earliest known Indo-
European club-wielder. The Greek warrior name Meleager (“Caring for the Club”) and
the Germanic name Odoacar (Auda-Wakraz: “Rich in Weapons”) are both related to
Indra’s famous vajra club. Mycenaean and Greek warriors fought with clubs, and
Scythians in Roman times were skilled club-men. 3 The club-wielding style is brought out
well by Silius Italicus who writes of a Spanish warrior of the third century BC:
He had no spear in hand, no helmet on his head but trusting in his broad
shoulders and strapping youth he laid waste the troops with his club,
needing no sword. 4

Ancient Germanic warriors 78
Men took pride in being so strong that they needed no armor or other weapon to frighten
their foes.
Germanic club-wielders on Trajan’s Column
To Romans, Germanic warriors stood frightfully tall and strong. Skeletons confirm this. 5
No wonder, then, that Germanic club-men loom large on Trajan’s Column. A clubwielder
appears in scene 24 that depicts the battle at Tapae (Figure 7.1).
Like club-men in other scenes of the Column, this one wears long, baggy trousers and
shoes. His sword hangs not on a baldric but is fastened to his belt on the left hip. Not
widening along the shaft, his knotted short club ends in a knob. Before him his battered
Dacian foe, struck by the club, has sunken to his knees, gasping and moaning and holding
his shield overhead. 6 The club-wielder towers head and shoulders over everyone nearby:
he is taller even than the horseman behind him. His arm and weapon raised, he reaches as
high as some figures in the middle ground, a truly strapping stalwart, a club-man like
Orion, Herkules, or Thor. His muscular build, like that of mythic club-men, makes him a
fit user of a weapon that can pass on a man’s whole strength.
Size, bare chest, and weaponry mark the warrior in scene 24 as a Germanic tribesman,
though he does not appear uncouth. His hair, less shaggy than that of the Dacians, is
ordered, his beard trimmed, and his face relaxed—perhaps to make victory seem well in
hand. 7 Since Indo-European heroes and Germanic leaders often wielded clubs, this man,
like other club-wielders on Trajan’s Column, may have served as a high-ranking elite
warrior. 8
Among the emperor’s strike force rushing along to Lower Moesia in scene 36 of the
Column, a club-wielder is perhaps the most eye-catching figure (Figure 0.2). As brawny
and tall as the strapping tribesmen around him, he sports a pointed chin-beard, baggy
trousers, and a rather grim look (made worse, perhaps, by the weathering of this side of
the Column). In his left hand he holds a shield and on his right side a sword hangs from
the baldric. The club in his right is thin at the handle and widens toward the tip. Like
other men in the scene, he holds his weapon ready: he will fight with the club first and
only then with his sword.
In scene 38, in which Trajan’s Lower Moesian strike force swings into action, two barechested
warriors, wearing baggy trousers tucked into their shoes, also wield clubs (Figure
7.2). 9
The scene is a night attack on Dacian raiders. Half-naked club-men, fast and quiet,
were good troops for this. Three of them are shown, one, with a curved knife, far to the
right, two others with clubs. The two warriors to the left, splendid types as seen in the
frontispiece, show no fighting madness, which is proper for a stealth attack—and greatly
to the credit of their Roman leader.

Club-wielders 79
Figure 7.1 Club-wielder with shield
and sword. Trajan’s Column, scene 24.
Photo: Deutsches Archäologisches
Institut, Rome, Inst. Neg. 91.100.

Ancient Germanic warriors 80
Figure 7.2 Club-men, fighting.
Trajan’s column, scene 38. Photo:
Deutsches Archaologisches Institut,
Rome, Inst. Neg. 41.1294.
Their clubs differ in shape. The one belonging to the warrior in the middle is thick and
straight, and best suited for bashing. The knotted club of the warrior on the left, on the
other hand, is thin, slightly curved, gripped up from the end, and hence suitable also for
throwing. Perhaps this is why he stands not in the front line but farther back from the
fighting, 10 although there is no telling whether he is about to throw his club or use it for
bashing.
The third bare-chested, trousered warrior, further right, fights foremost in the fray.
From his looks and being nearby he belongs to the same troop, even though he holds no
club but a curved sword. His sword has been called a mistake. The artist, it has been said,
curved the sword to make it bend around the head of the enemy kneeling there. However,
since scenes 24 and 36 of the Column (Figures 0.2 and 7.1) show swords as the fall-back
weapon for club-men, the wielder of the curved sword here seems to have thrown or lost
his club first and then drawn his sword. The blade’s curved shape need not be doubted,

Club-wielders 81
for as we will see in Chapter 18, bare-chested, Germanic warriors did indeed use curved
swords. 11
The combination of club and curved sword is not invented by the artist of the Column.
Vergil reports the joint use of these two weapons among Italic Oscan warriors—and of
Oscans he says that they threw clubs “like Germani.” Vergil thus knew a Germanic
warrior style that combined throwing club and curved sword. Reporting the same
combination of club and curved sword, poet and Column confirm each other: this was an
acknowledged warrior style. It was also practical and efficient, since the two weapons
complement each other: the club stuns an enemy and the light sword finishes him off. 12
Three further bare-chested warriors, one of them fallen, appear in scene 66 of the
Column. Wearing shoes and trousers, they are almost certainly club-men, not berserk
swordsmen, even though their weapons are not shown. One of them lies dead on the
ground, his head hidden behind a shield. He is the only “Roman” casualty in all the
reliefs on the Column. It is so astonishing to see a slain soldier of the Roman side that
scholars overlooked him. Perhaps some battlefield realism slipped in. Nor is it
happenstance that the dead warrior is a bare-chested club-wielder, for Germanic
tribesmen risked their lives freely and with astounding recklessness. 13 On the other hand,
Trajan’s Column prefers to depict fighting tribesmen in order to downplay the loss of
Roman blood 14 —it seemed better to lose foreign rather than Roman troops in battle, and
more glorious to win victory through the shedding of foreign, rather than Roman blood. 15
Tacitus thrilled at the thought of tribesmen killing tribesmen, as did fourth- and fifthcentury
Romans, though that did little to bring back Rome’s military strength. 16
In scene 70 of the Column (Figure 9.1), a club-wielder fights in the attack shield castle
that moves against the Dacians. The others, all auxiliaries, wield spears, but he raises a
club. With bowmen and slingers fighting from the rear, the picture seems well laid out
and trustworthy, hence one may infer with a certain likelihood that club-wielders did
indeed fight in the front line of shield walls, and if they did so in Trajan’s army, they did
so in Germanic armies as well. 17
Trajan’s Column does not overstate the use of clubs by tribesmen, it gives it due
weight. Wooden clubs in an army with advanced metallurgy prove the efficiency of the
weapon as well as the strength and fighting spirit of their users. Even Stone Age weapons
could be useful against well-equipped troops of antiquity: witness the Ethiopian bowmen
in Xerxes’ army invading Greece in 490 BC. 18 In the same way Trajan, with all his
legionaries and praetorians, relied on tribal club-men as his attack force.
Trajan’s club-wielding warriors, unlike his swordsmen, wear baggy trousers and
shoes, as do most Germanic warriors. 19 That they have taken off their shirts for battle sets
the club-men apart, though not as much as barefooted warriors. On the very accurate
second-century sarcophagus from Portonaccio, all wear long-sleeved shirts save for the
two warriors who dive beneath the enemy horses (Figures 17.4, 18.2). 20 To take off one’s
shirt for battle, then, was something of a berserk gesture, a display of greater recklessness
and bravery—and no doubt also of one’s brawn, as with American Indian braves, for
shirtless warriors looked tough and weather-hardened. 21 Bare-chested warriors, though
outdone in nakedness by barefooted ones, thus passed for being braver than those in
shirts or armor. Berserk-like bare-chestedness was part of the club-wielder warrior style.

Ancient Germanic warriors 82
A second-century horse chest guard, broken off from a triumphal bronze statue in
Transylvania, may (or may not) depict scenes from Trajan’s Dacian war. One of its
bronze figures shows a tall, half-naked, trousered club-wielder (Figure 7.3). 22
The foot warrior wields a club, not a sword, as has been said, for the weapon in his
hand widens towards the tip in striking contrast with the sword of the horseman behind
him. Further behind, another club-wielder once followed, now lost but still outlined by
the gap in the gilding. On the right-hand side, now broken off, there was a similar set of
figures of which only the club-man survives.
The club-wielders on this chest guard are far taller than the horsemen. Being tall and
half-naked, they are Germani, very likely those who came with Trajan and who, as scene
36 of the Column shows, conquered Dacia side by side with Roman horsemen. As on the
Column, the club-men are giants, and serve among Rome’s main attack troops, for to
Greeks and Romans the tallest were the most fearsome fighters (if also the most
vulnerable to arrows and javelins). 23 Horsemen wielding swords, rarely seen in Roman
art, were likewise attack troops eager to close with the enemy. 24
In Trajan’s time Germanic warriors worshiped a god whom the Romans called
Herkules and who therefore must have wielded a club. His cult was
Figure 7.3 Club-wielder and horseman
on the attack. Horse chest guard from
Transylvania. Photo: Ioan Piso, Cluj.
widespread, for many club-amulets have been found. Clubs as weapons would have
drawn prestige from the worship of this god. Club-wielding warriors, singing the praise
of the god as they went into battie, no doubt felt strengthened by his power as they fought
mythic battles. 25
Tacitus makes the point that a custom of the Suebi and Aestii in the furthest Northeast
was to use clubs rather than iron weapons. 26 The further away from Roman civilization,
the more he expected primitive weapons to be used—rightly perhaps.

Club-wielders 83
Throwing clubs as makeshift weapons
Throwing clubs proved decisive in AD 376 at “The Willows” (Ad Salices) near the Black
Sea. There, tribal club-throwers overcame a Roman field army, which led directly to the
Goths’ great victory at Adrianople. The Goths, Ammianus says, suffered reverses, but
then,
always quick and resourceful, they threw huge, fire-hardened clubs at our
men, stabbed those who stood firm with blades in the chest, and broke
through our left wing. 27
At the Willows, as on Trajan’s Column, the same warriors used clubs and blades. When
Ammianus says that “barbarians” are always quick and resourceful (reparabiles semper
et celeres) he does not mean that ingenuity allowed them to quickly come up with new
kinds of weapons, but that they made new clubs in a hurry, on the spot. 28 Throwing-clubs
as makeshift weapons are known from Rome’s Thracian war in AD 26, when the
beleaguered Thracians in a last, desperate attempt to break out, pelted the siege-wall
garrison with rocks, fire-hardened spears, and freshly cut oak clubs. 29 So it was at the
Willows: all that mattered in the heat of battle was to have enough clubs, and roughly
hewn ones were good enough. Indeed, some thought that rough clubs were even pithier
weapons. 30 Since the Goths fought near their camp they could have stockpiled such clubs
to throw them at the heavily armored Roman foot.
Clubs thrown in battle are easily lost. Warriors in such widely separated cultures as
Oscans and Hawaiians thus tied strings to their well-wrought clubs to retrieve them.
Commenting on Vergil, Servius says that Germanic club-throwers did the same. Perhaps,
then, some had well-wrought clubs they wanted to retrieve by strings. 31
As ancient Germani made many weapons only of wood, studies of their weaponry
based on metallic finds grasp only half the truth, and greater efforts are needed to gather
evidence of wooden weapons. 32 Trajan’s Column offers some such evidence in its
portrayal of clubs. Clearly, with wooden clubs and with rocks to be thrown, Germanic
warriors could quickly replenish their weapon supplies and almost always had the means
to fight from afar or hand to hand.
Throwing clubs are known still from the early Middle Ages. Isidore, bishop of
Visigoth Seville until AD 636, comments on Vergil’s Teutonic clubs:
The club (clava) is Hercules’ weapon, so called because it is held together
by iron nails (claves). It is a foot and a half in length. Such is also the
cateia, which Horace calls caia. It is a Frankish (Gallica) weapon made
from the hardest wood. When hurled, being heavy, it won’t fly far, but
will smash with the utmost strength. If thrown by someone skilled, it
comes back to him. Thinking of this, Vergil [Aeneid 7.741] says of the
Abellians: “wonted to fling clubs as the Teutons do.” That is why
Visigoths (Hispani) and Franks (Galli) call them tautani. 33

Ancient Germanic warriors 84
Since Isidore speaks of Teutons, his Hispani seem to be the Visigoths and his Galli the
Merovingian Franks of his own day. Both these nations thus used throwing clubs as late
as the seventh century AD, and with smashing effect. 34
Isidore’s claim that the heavy club, skillfully hurled, came back to the thrower, cannot
be true, for it is physically impossible. However, Indo-Europeans believed that the
weapons of the gods returned to the hand of the thrower after each throw, an
understandable belief in light of the fact that Germani still used boomerangs in the third
century AD (they deposited several such bird-hunting weapons in a moor at Oberdorla,
Thüringen). The wonder of the boomerang is readily ascribed to the weapon of a god,
hence Isidore’s notion of the Teutonic war club as boomerang seems to echo tales of
Thor’s hammer Mjöllnir, a heavy club that returned to the god’s hand after each throw. 35
Club-men against armored horsemen
In the third and fourth centuries, club-swingers overcame the most fearsome weapon of
late antiquity, the iron-clad catafractarii or clibanarii horsemen. It seems that this
decisive military achievement is owed to northern tribesmen.
Trajan’s Column records no fighting against horsemen, for to show Dacian foes on
horseback would make them too proud. The spiral reliefs thus give no clue as to what
club-wielders could do against cavalry. The relief on the southeast socle of the Column,
however, seems to depict a long, straight club with a sling at the handle. 36 The sling,
allowing for an even farther reach, makes it likely that this is a club for use against
armored horsemen. Heavy armor called for the use of clubs to counter it. Remarkably,
this fighting technique is found on the Danubian frontier rather than in the East where
mailed horsemen abound.
In summer of AD 272 at Hemesa, Emperor Aurelian faced the forces of Zenobia,
queen of Palmyra. The armored Palmyrene horsemen at first drove off the Roman horse,
Zosimus reports, but then Roman foot fell upon them:
Some went at them with the usual weapons, but those from Palestine
struck their iron- and bronze-clad foes with clubs and maces which in
great part won the day, for the foe was terror-stricken by the outlandish
attack with clubs. 37
Who were “those from Palestine”? Not traditional Roman soldiers, for to Romans clubs
were weapons not of the army but of the police. 38 Moreover, in that year Palestine still
belonged to the Palmyrenes or at best had only just been freed, hence Aurelian could not
have drawn battle-deciding troops from there. Nor were these club-men native
Palestinians or troops stationed there under the Palmyrenes, for their fighting style struck
the Palmyrenes as outlandish. They must have come from far away, then, not from the
eastern frontier. Clearly they were part of the army Aurelian brought from the West.
Zosimus’ reference to them as troops “from Palestine” is readily explained: under
Gallienus, field detachments from Palestine had been stationed in the West. Before taking
these detachments back to Palestine, Aurelian, if he treated them like other field
detachments, bolstered them with Germanic recruits while keeping their provincial

Club-wielders 85
name. 39 By Aurelian’s time, Frankish and Alamannic warriors had long experience in
fighting catafract horsemen, and for that reason are likely to be the club-men who
decided the battle of Hemesa. 40 Twenty years later, northern club-men formed a palatine
legion of their own, the Mattiarii. 41
In AD 312 the club-wielding tactics described by Zosimus won the battle at Torino for
Emperor Constantine. A speaker praising Constantine’s generalship at Torino says that
Constantine’s elite troops overcame Maxentius’ heavily mailed clibanarii horsemen by
letting them pass into their ranks where the emperor stood, and then striking the riders’
heads with their clubs and stabbing the horses:
They attacked the armored horsemen with clubs that by striking with their
heavy, iron-studded knots drubbed the wound-proof horsemen and, aimed
above all at their heads, brought down those whom they had knocked into
a daze. Then they began to fall head-long, to slide over backwards, to jerk
about half-dead, to hang in their saddles dying, to lie entangled in the
slaughter of the horses who, when a spot to wound them was found, in
unbridled pain threw their riders everywhere. 42
The club- and sword-wielding troops won the day. The club-men must have been highly
skilled as well as fearless not to run away when the dread ironclad catafracts rode toward
them. After the battle, orators praised Constantine lavishly for personally leading these
fighters, clearly elite troops.
Libanius mentions the same kind of fighting later in the fourth century. Of
Constantius’ soldiers facing the Persians, he writes:
The warrior on foot sidesteps the horse that comes up against him and
thus foils its move. Then, as the horseman rides by, he strikes him with
the club on the side of the head and brings him down. The rest is easy. 43
Side-stepping a horse must have called for great nimbleness such as only unarmored,
“naked” troops would have.
These accounts of the battles of Hemesa and Torino, as well as Libanius’ description
of Constantius’ soldiers against the Persians, reveal the fighting technique of club-men
against horsemen. Though overlooked by specialists of Roman weaponry, these accounts,
coming from three different authors, are likely to be trustworthy. 44
Club-wielders in the Middle Ages
Germanic warriors used clubs throughout antiquity and the early Middle Ages. 45 The
large golden horn from Gallehus in Denmark depicts a fifth-century throwing or bashing
club that broadens toward the tip, has a deeply carved handle, and looks much like a club
on Trajan’s Column over three hundred years earlier. The fifth-century bracteate
medallion from Års in Denmark (Figure 11.2), shows Woden wielding a big, knotted club
whose very thick head suggests that it is meant for striking rather than throwing. The

Ancient Germanic warriors 86
club, as the weapon of the god, thus was still a weapon of prestige in the north during the
sixth century. 46
Clubs had their use. No iron blade, only a huge club, could bring down Thorir Hound
in his magic wolfskin hood. Clubs likewise were the only weapons availing against
berserks, whom neither fire or steel could hurt. And Woden, having made Harald
Wartooth of Denmark wound-proof, in the end killed him with his own club. 47
Understandably, clubs were weapons of giants. Early Germanic literature speaks of
heroes so strong that the iron blades of their swords shattered when they swung them:
swords were of no help to such warriors, and swords did indeed shatter or break. 48 Very
strong men, therefore, needed clubs. Harald Wartooth, taller and stronger than everyone
else, went into battle at Bråvalla armed only with a club. Tellingly, he resembled the
club-men of Trajan’s Column also in that he wore neither helmet nor hauberk—in the
sense of being unarmored he was a “naked” warrior.
The club as the weapon of the unarmored king was to have a long history. A seventhcentury
club came to light at Konghell in Bohuslän, Sweden with a runic inscription that
reads “staff of command.” From a mere weapon, the club thus became a token of
command. The Bayeux tapestry, dating to the eleventh century when Norman cavalry no
longer used clubs, shows William the Conqueror leading his army into Brittany: taller
and broader-shouldered than other warriors, in a purple cloak, wielding a club and
wearing neither helmet nor hauberk, he rides ahead of his fully armored guard. 49 As
leader of Norman warriors who upheld customs brought from Norway and Denmark,
William stands in the tradition of Harald Wartooth and, even further back, in the tradition
of the club-men on Trajan’s Column. By his lack of a hauberk he underscores that he
fears no wounds, and by his club he flaunts his strength. In eleventh-century Norman
belief, Woden rides ahead of his warriors, huge and wielding a club. 50 In AD 813
Charlemagne forbade his warriors to muster with clubs (bacula) as their weapons. 51 Why
he did so is unknown. Perhaps the clubs he forbade were all-wooden weapons. Irontipped
clubs for striking horsemen (goedendags) remained a very effective weapon in
medieval warfare. With them, Flemish foot wasted the flower of French knighthood at
Courtrai in 1302. 52 Though there is no evidence to prove it, the old Frankish club may
never have fallen out of use between Charlemagne’s time and Courtrai.
Clubs were widely used in the Middle Ages. At Stiklastad in 1030, Norwegians threw
clubs against enemy foot. At Hastings in 1066, Anglo-Saxons threw clubs (with a stone
tied to the shaft) against armored Norman horsemen. 53 In the thirteenth century Saxo tells
how Thor shattered the shields of his foes with his frightening club. As in the beginning,
the club was the weapon of the uncommonly strong and was best used against armor or
shields. 54 As Thor’s weapon it must have been held in high regard, and so perhaps were
its throwers.

8
WIELDERS OF HUGE SPEARS
[Woden’s] spear never halted in its thrust.
Skáldskaparmál
Big spears have a long history among Indo-Europeans. In a wall painting from around
1550 BC on the Greek island of Thera, a line of Achaean warriors hold spears more than
twice their own length. Hector’s spear in the Iliad is over five meters long. In Rome, too,
large spears brought prestige: Vergil’s Messapus owned a beamlike spear (hasta trabalis)
as did the war goddess Bellona. Gauls are said to have had “swords larger than other
peoples’ spears, and spear blades larger than other peoples’ swords.” 1
Bronze Age rock carvings in southern Sweden, made by ancient Germani or their
forerunners, show a warrior with a giant spear, clearly meant to impress with the might of
the weapon and the strength of the wielder, perhaps Woden himself (Figure 8.1). 2
The drawing shows a spear more than twice as long as its bearer and with a huge
blade. Like the long spear, the big shield suggests that this warrior fought in a shield wall
formation. The size of his weapons helps one under-stand what Tacitus says about the use
of big spears at the beginning of our era. In his Germania Tacitus writes about Germanic
warriors:
Not even iron abounds, as one can see from the kind of weapons: Few use
swords or big spears. 3
Tacitus’ statement that iron does not abound among Germani implies that he believed big
spears had large iron blades (and were therefore rare). Since archaeologists have found
many small spear blades of the time, but only a few large ones, Tacitus was certainly
right in saying that few had big spears (though not everyone agrees with his inference
that iron was rare). 4
In his Histories and Annals, however, Tacitus speaks of huge spears as fearsome weapons
of Germanic warriors. The Cherusci, he says, fought well “with their tall limbs and huge
spears, striking wounds from afar.” And the Batavi in AD 70 “with their huge bodies and
overlong spears ran the wavering and slipping soldiers through from afar.” 5 Yet Tacitus’
earlier Germania and his later Histories and Annals do not contradict each other, for big
spears as the weapons of elite warriors in the front line were at the same time rare and
fearsome.

Ancient Germanic warriors 88
Figure 8.1 Wielder of a huge spear.
Rock drawing from Tanum, Bohuslän.
Photo after Altheim, Literatur 1948,
300f. and plate XXI (with permission
of Max Niemeyer Verlag).
That big spears were front-line weapons is clear from several battle descriptions. Dio
says that when the Suebi of Ariovistus met Caesar’s legions in 58 BC, close-up hand-tohand
battle flared up so quickly that the Germani could not use their long spears. These
must have belonged to men in the first line, for rear ranks could still use thrusting
weapons after battle was joined. 6
In AD 15 Germanicus told his soldiers not to fear the long spears of the Cherusci, for
only those in the first line had them, while those further back had but short or firehardened
spears. 7 There must be some truth rather than mere bravado in this, for no
leader could lie to experienced soldiers about so elementary a fact and hoodwink them
about what they had to face. 8 There are no grounds to doubt our sources on this point
since they agree that big spears were rare and wielded only by warriors in the front line. 9

Wielders of huge spears 89
In the battle at the Angrivarii wall in AD 16 the Cherusci were so hemmed in among
each other that “they could neither thrust out and pull back their overlong spears, nor
lunge forward and make use of their speed.” 10 The wielders of long spears in the first line
thus fought nimbly, in columns (cunei) not too tight, whereas the shuttered-up shield
castle of Ariovistus’ men was a strictly defensive formation.
Large spear blades are found only in the rich graves of the upper class, hence those
who fought with long or heavy spears in front were athelings. 11 Like Chatti long-hairs,
they bodied forth an elite warrior style that ranged them in the first line of battle. Rome
gladly hired such men. 12 We will meet wielders of huge spears again when looking at
lancers on horseback. Strabo and Tacitus link body size with weapon size: the bigger the
men, the larger the spears they wield. 13 Warriors, naturally, took pride in both, for the
taller they were, the more they frightened the foe; and the longer their spear, the greater
their advantage.
Long spears were still used in the early Middle Ages: sixth-century Saxons wielded
them. 14 But while the shield wall continued to be a major battle formation, elite warriors
in the first rank seem to have turned to shorter thrusting spears, better suited for single
combat.
On the seventh-century Torslunda die (Figure 1.6) the wolf-warrior holds a short spear
of astonishing thickness. The same is true of spears held by barritus chanters embossed
on the helmet from grave 7 at Valsgärde (Figure 10.1). Some battle lords thus seem to
have chosen shorter spears that kept the aristocratic long blade, but achieved powerful
thrust by thickness rather than length of shaft. Thick shafts still flaunted their wielders’
strength.
Mighty spear shafts still awed warriors in Norway in AD 1030. Snorri Sturluson says
that for the battle at Stiklastad King Olaf hired (and converted) a warrior so tall that no
one came up to his shoulders. Handsome and fairhaired, the man had a fine helmet, a
hauberk of chain mail, a red shield, and a beautiful sword. His spear, inlaid with gold,
had a shaft so thick it filled his hand. The king put him in the front line, to stand before
his banner. 15
Spears were also weapons of great prestige in the sagas. The Laxardal saga says that
when Olaf went to Ireland he wore a hauberk and a helmet with golden plates, was girt
with a sword, the hilt of which was inlaid with gold, and in his hand held a spear with a
hooked blade, richly decorated. In the Grettis saga the hero kills two berserks with one
thrust, using “the big hooked spear that belonged to Kar the Old.” 16
While spears had to be light enough to be thrown, warriors of great strength could
nevertheless boast huge weapons. 17 Warriors with huge spears, whether long or thick,
could see themselves as Woden’s men, fighting in the style of the spear god, whose
“Gugnir” never failed in its thrust: “Spear-Ygg” (Spear-Woden) was a “kenning” (Old
Norse compound expression) for warriors. 18

Part 4
SHIELD WARRIORS

9
SHIELD CASTLES
They arrayed themselves in shield castles. Closing ranks
everywhere, they were safe in front, in the back, and on the
sides. Thus they broke through our thin line.
Tacitus, Histories
Shield castles in antiquity
Disciplined fighting seems to be as old among Indo-Europeans as are frenzied fighting
and single combat, 1 albeit the weight given to one or the other shifted over time. Homer’s
Iliad speaks of close-knit shield walls and calls close-ordered troops “castles.” Known
also to Celtiberians, Dacians, and Germani, such shieldburg are an inherited Indo-
European battle formation. Called folc or scyldburgh in Anglo-Saxon, fólc in Old Norse,
and cuneus in Latin, they were a mainstay of Germanic battle tactics from antiquity to the
Middle Ages. 2
In drawn-out, hand-to-hand fighting against better-equipped Romans, Germanic
warriors fought against the odds and therefore sought wooded, wet, steep, or stony
ground for battles, or sprang ambushes with tactical retreats and feigned flight. 3 But they
also accepted set-piece battles. When they did, they attacked in well-coordinated shield
castles, not, as some believe, in mindless free-for-alls. Unlike Roman armies, Germani
drew up for battle not in lines but in columns they could quickly turn into well-knit
shieldburg. 4
A good example for this is Ariovistus’ battle array against Caesar in 58 BC. Ariovistus
lined up his seven tribes in groups of columns—each column around 300 strong, says
Dio—with regular intervals between them. After a first lightning attack, which forestalled
the Romans from throwing their pila-spears, the columns formed shield castles
(phalangae), their shields overlapping on all sides and overhead, “as was their wont.”
That the men could do this while fighting proves it to be a wonted custom. 5 As the battle
went on, Caesar’s men overcame the German left flank: Roman soldiers jumped on the
shield buckles of the Germani and struck at them from above. On the right, however, the
Germani pushed forward and almost overwhelmed the Roman lines before Roman
reinforcements came up and the Germani fled. Ariovistus had clearly planned for his
shield castles to break through the Roman lines.
A shield wall is seen in scene 70 of Trajan’s Column (Figure 9.1). 6 The stunning row
of four auxiliaries’ shields, all in one line at the same angle and in full view, draws the
eye on the rhythmic action in the scene. No other battle scene on the Column shows
shields so arrayed. Scholars have rightly taken the scene to depict the advance of a

Ancient Germanic warriors 92
column into battle. In a companion scene to the right, legionaries form their comparable
“tortoise.”
Three auxiliary soldiers with helmets, mailshirts, and spears (as the men’s fists show)
and an “irregular” club-wielder stand for a body of troops like those brigaded at Placentia
in AD 69 under the name “Germanic cohorts”: Batavian auxiliaries next to tribesmen
from across the Rhine. 7 All four warriors have the same shield emblem. Shields aligned
and spears jabbing, they move ahead in bonding step, very likely to the rhythm of the
barritus
Figure 9.1 A shield wall on the attack.
Trajan’s Column, scene 70. Photo:
Deutsches Archäologisches Institut,
Rome, Inst. Neg. 41.1443.
chant—in the same way, it seems, as warriors on the seventh-century Valsgärde foil
and the ninth-century Oseberg wall-hanging (Figures 10.1, 11.5). Behind them comes
another line of spearmen, then bowmen and rock-throwers. Unlike some early medieval
shield castles, this one does not double the shields in the first line, for the foes have no
bowmen. 8
Figure 9.1 actually depicts two shield castles, an attacking Germanic one on the left
and a defending Dacian one on the right. As they clash, the two formations reveal their
fighting techniques. When shield castles met, they tried to push the foe out of the way,
which took all the strength and skill the warriors could muster. One way to get a grip on

Shield castles 93
the ground was to hunker down. Speaking of the Alamannic shield castle at the battle of
Strassburg in AD 357, Ammianus says that some very skillful warriors fought on their
knees to turn back the foe. 9 Such a warrior is the Dacian shown in scene 70, kneeling in
the first line of the crumbling shield castle. The shield of another Dacian guards him from
above, just as Maurice describes the shield-castle order in the sixth century. Fighting on
one’s knee in the first line, while guarded by the shield of the man behind, is a very
specific technique. Since both Trajan’s Column and Ammianus know this fighting
technique, the shield castle with the twin line of shields in front must have been a welltrained
traditional battle formation in much of Iron Age Europe.
Arraying troops by tribes was an Indo-European custom that allowed warriors to fight
in their specific styles. The columns and shieldburg of tribes or clans with their own warcries
and dances will have moved to different chants. 10 Hence when Batavi and tribal
warriors from across the Rhine faced the Romans in AD 70, Civilis, like Ariovistus
before him, arrayed his forces by tribes and columns. This was a good tactic also in that
tribes thus set apart strove to outdo each other. 11
The line along which the columns were drawn was “the battle line.” Tacitus refers to it
when he says that the 100 foot warriors honored to fight jointiy with the horse took their
stand “before the battle line.” He also refers to it when he states that leaders showed their
mettle by fighting “before the line.” 12
With the battle line drawn, there was still scope for loosely structured groups
(catervae, globi, drungi) to stay in front or rush out to skirmish, taunt, tempt, probe, or
wreck the enemy’s battle order and hide their own. 13 Such tactics favored lighter, faster
Germani over more heavily equipped Romans. 14 In AD 354 Constantius II overcame the
Alamanni when three of his Germanic officers, Arintheus, Seniauchus, and Bappo, with
their troops, rushed the enemy “in wild lunges rather than in proper battle order.” 15 What
mattered was their eagerness to fight, their reckless dash into the fray. 16 In such lunges,
wolf- and bear-warriors, naked berserks, and others could display their daring fighting
styles. And since even kings fought at times in such groups, 17 the picture of Trajan at the
head of naked “berserk” swordsmen, helm-bearers, wolf- and bear-warriors in scene 36
of the Column may be meant to suggest that the emperor—symbolically—led elite
warrior groups to fight before the battle line.
Attacking shield castles could overcome even well-ordered Roman foot. 18 They might
advance straight, chanting the barritus, as did the Cornuti and Brachiati at Strassburg in
AD 357, move as squares, guarding themselves on all sides, 19 or advance in the famous
“boarhead” wedge formation. 20 With a narrow front formed at the battle line, the
“boarhead” moved forward to break the enemy line. It had a good chance of doing so, for
at the front stood the keenest warriors, including kings ringed by bodyguards and
champions. 21 Moreover, as the sides of the wedge guarded the churls in the middle, these
were free to hurl weapons at the breaking point in the enemy line—the same point-of-fire
tactics as the circling attacks of horse described on pp. 146–8. 22
Shield castles might also attack walls. Tacitus says of troops attacking Placentia in AD
69 that they swung shields over their heads and were bare-chested. Ammianus describes
the same equipment and technique at the siege of Aquileia in AD 361: “They held their
shields over their heads so they could fight more lightly [clad].” 23 Batavi formed shield
castles several stories high to attack city walls. “They stormed against the wall, most of
them placing ladders at it, others over their shield castles.” 24 A shield castle needed a roof

Ancient Germanic warriors 94
of shields over it to guard against missiles, 25 but holding up a shield for others to clamber
over takes great strength. Shield castle warriors could do this because neither those who
held up the shields nor those who ran over them were burdened by armor. To storm walls
bare-chested, however, took berserk-like recklessness, and losses were high. 26
The first two lines of shieldburg were obvious places for long-spear wielders,
helmeted athelings, and startling-to-look-at long-hairs. 27 Scene 70 of Trajan’s Column
shows a club-wielder fighting in the first line (Figure 9.1). Other elite warriors may also
have fought in the front lines of shield castles, in some cases as a leader’s guard with
large shields, ready to form a boarhead wedge. 28 Though dart- and stone-throwers stood
further back, shield castles nevertheless brought athelings and churls together, as they
depended upon each other.
Shield castles mattered to Germanic tactics because most men lacked armor. 29 The
shield’s role in the castle formation shows why those who threw their shields away
earned a bad name: unable to safeguard themselves and those around them, they
endangered all. 30
Attack by column did not, as is often said, put all hope of victory on the first charge,
for attacks succeeded each other. Libanius says the Franks attacked with a second force
even before their first “phalanx” had been beaten back. 31 The pivotal role of the battle
column and its shield castle, moreover, shows that Germanic warfare stood squarely in a
northern Iron Age tradition that owed little to the Romans. 32
Germanic warfare, then, was not planless or disorderly, as sometimes said. 33 Troops
were often well-trained, well-led, and capable of intricate maneuver: 34 Caesar says of
Ariovistus, “He won by planning and reason.” 35 On the whole, Germanic warriors seem
to have fought less fantasticaliy wild than Celts and perhaps therefore fared better in wars
against the Romans. 36 The newly found battle site in the Teutoburg Forest revealed that
long-range planning and tactical skill brought a Roman field army of 30,000 men to a
spot at which field fortifications goaded them into a deadly trap. 37 Anthropological
studies of warfare point out the vital role of social and tactical organization, 38 which
makes it likely that Germanic victories over Rome were won through the tactical
efficiency of shield castles.
Shield castles in the early Middle Ages
In AD 535, Cassiodorus mentions a Gothic woman named Ranilda, “She of the
Boarhead-Battle.” It is the oldest known mention of the boarhead battle formation. As
names expressed warrior ideals, “Ranilda” is proof that sixth-century Goths in Italy held
the boarhead formation in high regard. 39 That Germanic troops at the time still used the
shieldburg formation is seen also from the fact that the Byzantines adopted it and called it
by its Germanic name “fulkon” (folc). Around AD 600, Maurice describes a defensive
shield-burg castle this way:
The first, second and third men in each file form a fulkon, that is one
shield over the other, and pointing their spears forward outside the shields,
they press them firmly against the ground so that those who dare coming
too close will feel them. With the shoulders they push and lean against the

Shield castles 95
shields so they can well withstand the pressure of those outside. But the
third man stands higher… 40
The men leaning their shoulders against the shields call to mind scene 70 of Trajan’s
Column (Figure 9.1) and Ammianus’ description of warriors fighting on their knees in
the first line of a defensive shield castle. 41 In another passage Maurice describes a shield
castle as it moves forward:
On the command ad fulcum those in front move their shields closer until
they nearly touch the shield bosses of their neighbors, guarding
themselves well from stomach to shins. Those behind them lift their
shields over and rest them on the shield bosses of those before them,
guarding their chest and face. And thus they move to the attack. 42
This is the most detailed description we have of shield castles. When Maurice says that
the “blond” peoples (Franks, Lombards) go to battle in dense and even lines, 43 he means
not continuous lines but those made up of columns standing beside each other at intervals
like Ariovistus’ troops and ready to form shield castles. 44
Whether on offense or defense, the shieldburg, with shields locked in front and
overhead, guarded men against flying spears and arrows. In the thirteenth century Saxo
twice tells of shield castles standing under a hail of spears until their foes ran out of
weapons and could be safely counterattacked. 45
In stating that men of the second line rest their shields on the shield bosses of those in
the first line, Maurice reveals why some Germanic shield bosses had a protruding staff
(“Stangenschildbuckel”). Such bosses were less for parrying blows, as has been
suggested, than for shields to be locked into a shield castle: the neck of the buckle held
the neighboring shield, the staff the one from above. Only men in the front line, perhaps
only those at the narrow boar’s head, needed staff bosses, hence very few of them have
been found from any given period. As their owners were front-rank fighters and leaders,
these often richly silvered and engraved bosses no doubt also served as status symbols.
Fittingly, Emperor Lothair himself, in his gospel book of AD 849–851, has a shield with
a knobbed staff-boss. 46
From the find distribution of staff bosses one may then infer when and where Germani
used shield castles. Staff bosses from graves of the pre-Roman Iron Age prove Caesar
right about Ariovistus’ shield castles in 58 BC, while Emperor Lothair’s boss shows the
double-row shield castle still in use among ninth-century Franks. Similarly, bosses from
Sweden and what is now Poland make it clear that double-row shield castle tactics
prevailed among northern and eastern as well as western Germani, and that all Germanic
regions shared this telling feature of warcraft. 47
The un-Roman shape of Germanic shield-bosses and the Germanic name (fulkon) of
the Byzantine shield castle show that Byzantium learned the shield castle and its more
specific form, the boarhead formation, from Germanic warriors. This makes sense, for by
the end of the third century AD legionaries looked much like Germanic tribesmen,
lacking helmets and armor but equipped with oblong or round shields. These “Romans,”
as vulnerable as Germanic troops, needed shield castles to guard them against spears and
arrows. 48

Ancient Germanic warriors 96
Heathen Germanic lands knew the barritus chant (described on pp. 111–3) from the
first century to the tenth century AD. The chant gave the shield castle its beat and hence
its coherence. Covered as they were by other warriors’ shields, front rankers could see
very little and their advance would have fallen into disorder without a strong beat to
march by. The Old High German name of Folcleih, “He of the Shield-Castle Dance,” also
suggests that the shield castle marched in step, or “danced.” 49 Shield-castle discipline did
not bar warrior ecstasy. The barritus sounded like waves crashing on cliffs and thus like
wild forces of nature close to that oldest and best-liked image of battle, a storm. Woden’s
battle is still seen as a storm in the tenth-century skaldic poem by Eyvind Skaldaspillir. 50
Warriors believed that Woden had taught them the shield-castle formation, and like the
god himself the shield castle embodied both well-ordered discipline and ecstatic
“storm.” 51
Known from antiquity to the Middle Ages, 52 shield castles typify the continuity in
Germanic warcraft. 53 Edda and Icelandic sagas both speak of shield castles, and so does
the Norwegian Hákonarmál in AD 961. 54 Anglo-Saxons warriors at Maldon in AD 991
still used the shield castle and learned how to hold their shields to form the wihaga or
scyldburgh. The Bayeux tapestry shows an Anglo-Saxon shield castle at Hastings in
1066: formed of only one row of shields, it allowed Norman bowmen to shoot Harold’s
housekarls. 55 Nevertheless, the Anglo-Saxon shield castle served well both on the defense
and on the attack. Anglo-Normans still used it in the crusades and beyond. 56 In
Scandinavia the shield castle also survived into the second millennium, and with it the
technique of the strongest to sally forth from it to try and break the enemy line. Of the
battle at Stiklastad in AD 1030, Snorri Sturlusson says:
Then the lines before the banner of the king grew thin. So the king bade
Thór to advance the standard and followed it with the body of the men he
had selected to be about him in battle. These were the boldest with
weapons and the best armed among his troops. 57
The same battle order suited Germanic armies of the first century AD as well.

10
CHANTING
They raised the barritus as loud as could be, a shout
(clamor) that in the heat of battle slowly grows from a
faint whisper into a sound like waves crashing against
cliffs.
Ammianus Marcellinus
Singing
In battle, fear can grip men so hard that they freeze even as they turn to flee. Singing,
shouting, and dancing, however, may ban or dull such fear. Warriors the world over have
therefore sung, shouted, and danced to heighten their prowess and drown their fear. Indo-
Europeans believed their gods and heroes had taught them this. 1 Plato held that soft songs
made soft warriors; the late-Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus agreed and urged
warriors to shout lustily. 2
Ancient warriors had narrative songs to sing before battle and chanting songs to shout
once fighting began. Roman legionaries, trapped in swamps between Ems and the Rhine
in AD 15, set these two off from each other when they heard their foes “cram hill and
dale with glad song or grim battle cry.” 3
As for narrative songs, Spartans sang of their ancestor Hercules as they marched
against the enemy. Tacitus likewise says of first-century Germani that before fighting
they sang of Hercules, the “first of heroes.” Germani on the Rhine sang of their hero
Arminius. 4 In the Battle at the Willows in AD 377, Gothic warriors too sang of ancestral
heroes, “braying,” Ammianus Marcellinus scoffs, “in grating voices the praise of their
forebears.” Emperor Julian, who often heard Germanic warriors sing, thought they had
great fun singing loudly. Late Roman and Byzantine armies adopted this custom—
witness the rank of cantator, “singer.” Since Roman troops of the early and High Empire
had no such singers, Germani serving in late imperial armies likely brought the custom
with them. 5
The custom still lived in the ninth century: the Old High German Ludwigslied of AD
881 says that when Franks and Vikings met, “Song was sung, battle begun.” On the
morning of the battle at Stiklastad in AD 1030, Thormod, skald of King Olaf of Norway,
sang for the king’s army the Old Lay of Bjarki. Before the battle at Hastings in AD 1066,
Normans sang the song of Roland. 6
Songs of heroes and forebears turned battles into mythic struggles and warriors into
mythic heroes. Singing such songs, men felt themselves heroes like Hercules, Sigmund,
Siegfried, or Beowulf; or they felt themselves warriors of Thor, Woden, or Balder, whom
they believed to be their fore-bears. It was a way of overcoming human bounds, as was
fighting in animal-warrior or berserk fighting styles. 7

Ancient Germanic warriors 98
Barritus chanting
Chanting songs served as battle cry and beat for war dances. Early Greek and Roman
warriors “shouted like flocks of raucous birds”; indeed, the aim of the Greek paian battle
chant was to evoke the image of a wild animal. 8 Husky songs likewise heartened
Thracian and Iberian warriors, and chanting Gauls and Britons frightened their foes at the
onset of battle. 9 Of Germanic war songs Tacitus says:
They also have songs (carmina) whose singing, which they call barditus,
stirs them up—they even foretell the outcome of battles from the singing
itself, for they frighten, or get frightened, by how their battle line sounds,
taking this to reflect not their voices but their manhood. Aiming above all
at a rough, fitful note, they raise their shields to the mouth so that the
sound, being reflected, gets fuller and heavier. 10
Romans too believed that when armies met, the strength of their respective war cries
foreshadowed the outcome of battle: a weak war cry betrayed fear, a strong one showed
strength and eagerness. To Germanic warriors this mattered even more, for they believed
the strength of their war cry foretold victory or defeat. They thus put their utmost into
shouting: in the campaign against Ariovistus, Caesar warned his soldiers not to be afraid
of Germanic shouting, and so did Emperor Decius in AD 250. At the battle of Strassburg
in AD 357, the Germanic war cry was truly awesome, says Ammianus. The Auxilia
Palatina units of Cornuti and Brachiati (Germanic units on the Roman side), he says,
“raised the barritus as loud as could be, a shout (clamor) that in the heat of battle slowly
grows from a faint whisper into a sound like waves crashing against cliffs.” 11 By the time
of the battle at the Willows in AD 377, the Roman field army had learned the barritus
(the later form of the word barditus) from the Auxilia Palatina, and by shouting it “gained
great strength.” In the ninth century AD the war cry of northern warriors still sounded
like crashing waves, 12 the howling or snarling of wolves, or the howling of a storm. 13
Bronze foils from the helmet found in grave 7 at Valsgärde in Sweden depict midseventh
century warriors in raven-helmets marching in step next to rearing snake dragons
that belong to the weapons dance. In the shape of an eagle, Woden goes before (Figure
10.1). 14
Holding their shields as high as their mouths, the warriors shout the battle cry as
Tacitus describes in his Germania. Since the foils prove Tacitus right about raising the
shields, one may also believe his explanation that the warriors did this to make the sound
of the battle cry reverberate toward themselves and feel their own strength. 15 Another
warrior raising the shield, very likely to chant the barritus, is the Oseberg boar-warrior
shown in Figure 4.3.
The Hávamál, quoted below, says that Woden raised the battle cry. The two warriors
in Figure 10.1 thus give Woden’s cry. Imitating the god, they act out an opening-of-battle
ritual in which eagles and snakes play roles. It is fitting, therefore, that they wear birdheaded
dragons on their helmets, as Woden does in rituals at the onset of war (Figures
11.1–11.3). 16

Figure 10.1 Warriors chanting the
barritus, raising their shields. Bronze
foil from the helmet in grave 7 at
Valsgärde, Uppland. Drawing after
Hauck, “Germania-Texte” 1982, 206ff.
Tacitus’ description of the barditus and its foretelling the outcome of battle are borne
out by a verse of the Hávamál in the Edda:
þhat kann ec ellipta: ef ec scal til orrosto
leiða langvini: undir randir ec gel, enn
með ríki fara heilir hildar til, heilir hildi fra,
koma heilr hvaðan.
Chanting 99
That, eleventh, I know: When I shall to battle lead
old friends under shields I yell and they fare with
might hale to the fight, hale from the fight, they
come hale from wherever.
The poem, heathen and hence from no later than the tenth century, has Woden stand by
his friends as they sing and march into battle—a belief reflected in the eagle hovering

Ancient Germanic warriors 100
before the men on the Valsgarde foil (Figure 10.1). What is more, by yelling “under
shields” Woden strengthens the war cry of his friends, thus making them win. Tenthcentury
warriors, like those of Tacitus in the first century, thus held that a strong battle
cry foretells victory. The Hávamál then shows how much the barritus mattered to
warriors, and how right Tacitus was, 800 years earlier, to stress this fact. 17

11
WAR DANCES
Fiercely shouting and bare-chested as was their wont, they
bran-dished their shields over their shoulders.
Tacitus, Histories
Indo-European war dances
Dance, like song and shout, gives warriors strength to outdo themselves. Unflagging
dance rids the mind of wandering thoughts, thus bringing on ecstasy, the divine state of
mind. To achieve this, wild warriors the world over danced before, during, and after
battle. Dancing was so rnuch a part of fighting among Polynesians of Mangaia that they
had a Valhalla of war dancers: “Men killed in battle went to a special warriors’ paradise
where they danced with their old friends and enemies. All others had to face the ‘ovens of
Miru in the lower Avaiki’.” 1
Indo-European warriors, seeking ecstacy, danced to banish fear and flaunt strength:
Tukulti-Ninurta’s berserks danced on the battlefield, as did Vedic Indians, Iranians, and
Homeric Greeks. 2 To Hector battle itself was dance: He “knew how to swing his shield
left and right,” very likely in a battle line of dancers. Archaic Greeks believed the
Dioscuri had invented weapon dancing; Spartans danced when they closed in on a foe. 3
Plato thought the man who sang and danced rightly overcame his enemy in battle,
echoing the proven soldier Socrates who in prison wrote, “Those who honor the gods best
with dances are the best in war, which reflects Attic hoplite training.” 4
Ancient Thracians war-danced to sounds of flutes, leaping into the air and clashing
swords as if striking each other. They did so on occasion to celebrate peace, but mainly to
excite themselves before battle. Gallaecian warriors in northwest Spain “stomped the
ground first with one, then with the other foot, clashing their shields to the beat.” 5 Alpine
and Celtiberic tribesmen, each in their own way, danced before battle and to honor their
dead at funerals. 6 Wearing nothing but golden neckbands and armrings, Celtic warriors
danced on the battlefield. 7 Even Romans, little known for dancing, danced at times with
weapons in hand. They did so early in the first millennium BC as warriors, and still in
historical times as Salian priests to worship the gods as Hector and Arcadians had done. 8
Toward the end of the first millennium AD, Slavs did splendid victory dances. 9
The barritus dance
Germanic warriors danced to honor the dead, to celebrate victory, to hail a speech, to
gloat over a captured banner, and to begin a battle. 10 In 174 BC King Perseus of
Macedonia hoped the Germanic Bastarnae in his service would frighten the Romans with

Ancient Germanic warriors 102
their war dance. 11 At Aquae Sextiae in 106 BC, Ambrone warriors advanced in step,
rhythmically clashing their weapons and shouting their tribal name. 12 Chanting, dancing,
and brandishing weapons is found together time and again.
In AD 26, Rome’s Germanic cohort I Claudia Sugambrorum Veterana won fame for
the uproar of its songs and weapons—cantuum et armorum tumultus—as it fought
Thracians. Raised on the Rhine some thirty-five years earlier, the Sugambri cohort must
have kept its traditional fighting style. 13 They must have struck their weapons against
each other, as Ambrones did at Aquae Sextiae, or swung their shields in tight formation
as we know of later Germanic troops from the Rhine.
The Roman commander sent the Sugambri cohort to frighten off tribal Thracians, who
were themselves singing and dancing in battle line. It must have been quite a show to
Roman eyes to see the old warrior styles outshouting and outdancing each other, as they
were meant to do, and as men are likely to have done ever since warfare began. 14
During the civil war of AD 69, “Germanic cohorts”—Batavi and men from East of the
Rhine—attacked the Italian town of Placentia. They sang fiercely, Tacitus says of them,
and “bare-chested, as was their wont, brandished shields over their shoulders.” 15 The
warriors no doubt swung their shields and stepped to the rhythm of the barritus. The
Batavi were keen war dancers, for under Civilis in AD 70 they danced again before the
battle at Vetera. The name of the Batavian war goddess Vagdavercustis may mean
“protectress of war dancers.” 16
Scene 70 of Trajan’s Column shows Germanic troops advancing in step, very likely to
the rhythm of a chant (Figure 9.1). Germanic troops chanting the barritus and swinging
their shields are known also from late antiquity, though their dance has been overlooked.
In AD 357 at the battle at Strassburg, Cornuti and Brachiati shouted the barritus war cry
like “waves crashing against cliffs,” making it resound from shields lifted up to the
mouth. At the same time they frightened their foes by the way they moved: eos iam gestu
terrentes. Some have translated the word gestus as if it meant “they frightened their foes
by their bearing”; yet it can also mean “gesture” or “dance.” The latter is likely here:
Cornuti and Brachiati danced. 17 From an event in AD 374 we learn more of this gesture:
beaten and outnumbered by the enemy, a Roman expeditionary force in Africa under
Count Theodosius overawed its foes and saved itself when its soldiers closed ranks and
moved their shields in a frightening gestus. 18 The gestus at Strassburg, then, was also a
movement of shields: the Cornuti and Batavi must have brandished them in a frightening
way, all at the same time, no doubt to the rhythm of the barritus while lined up in shield
castle formation. 19 Similarly at Adrianople in AD 378, “Roman” troops frightened Goths
with their “threatening shoving of shields.” 20 To be threatening, the shoving of shields
had to be brusk and rhythmic, only then could it cast fear into foes.
Singing leads to swaying and rocking. The rhythm of Germanic speech may have
encouraged that, for in the words of Northrop Frye “The pounding movement and
clashing noise which the heavy accentuation of English makes possible” brings about a
“hypnotic incantation that, through its pulsing dance rhythm, appeals to involuntary
physical resonance and is hence not far from the sense of magic or physically compelling
power.” 21
When in the fourth century the Auxilia Palatina of Cornuti and Brachiati were
foremost in battlefield prowess, the Roman field army adopted their barritus—not just
the shout, it seems, but the dance step as well. Emperors like Constantius II and Julian

War dances 103
learned to advance in a war-dance step that Ammianus calls with an old-fashioned Greek
term pyrrica. Since one never hears of legions war-dancing during the early and High
Empire, Ammianus’ pyrrica is likely to be a newly adopted, foreign custom—the war
dance of Cornuti and Brachiati. 22
Can one reconstruct the barritus dance? In AD 363 at Ctesiphon, Julian marched his
men toward enemy lines to the sound of fifes in the anapaest beat: short-short-long. The
anapaest, earlier used by Spartans, may have been a common Indo-European war-dance
beat, the “three-foot step” (tripudium) known from many nations. In Julian’s army, it was
the rhythm of barritus and shield-swinging. 23 Warriors chanting the barritus may have
danced in this three-beat rhythm, taking one step each on the first two beats, then
swinging foot and shield on the long third beat with a shout.
The barritus dance was nothing without the rhythmic shout. Ammianus chides
Sabinianus, leader of the Roman forces in the Mesopotamian campaign of AD 359, who,
to amuse himself, bade the band strike up the war-dance tune for theatrical gestures “in
deep silence”—apparently without the soldiers’ shout. 24
The shield-castle dance was, of course, an attack step. On the long third beat of the
tripudium, warriors could, instead of swinging foot and shield, jump onto their foe’s
shield buckle, striking him from above, as we have seen in the chapter on shield castles.
This is what Vegetius advises in the fourth century AD: “while doing the war dance
climb onto the [enemy’s] shield and come down again, and now, doing the gestus
[swinging the shield?], jump forward and fall back.” In the battle of Adrianople (AD 376)
the Goths fought in this way. 25
What with the willfulness of warriors and the heroic quest of self-seeking leaders,
war-dancing brought much-needed discipline to Germanic battle lines. 26 This may be
why the Auxilia Palatina, famed for their barritus, became Rome’s finest and best-known
troops. It is nevertheless astounding that after centuries of “rational” warfare, the Roman
army returned to war-dancing, a custom befitting tribal warriors rather than imperial
soldiers.
The barritus lived on into the Middle Ages (Figure 10.1). 27 Referring to legendary
times, Saxo Grammaticus says the Saxon army brought its champion Hama to the
battlefield “with the weapon dance of military pomp.” From the “songs and clash of
arms” of the fierce Sugambrian cohort at the beginning of our era to the early Middle
Ages, the war dance breathed life into shield-castle battle lines. It even allowed foot to
attack and defeat horse in the open field, as Swiss pikemen did at the other end of the
Middle Ages when, marching in step to fife and drum, they became the first foot warriors
in a long time to march upon and overcome armored knights. 28
Woden’s dance
A rock drawing from Tanum, Bohuslän, shows a spear dancer, perhaps from the Bronze
Age (Figure 11.1). 29
Most Bohuslän rock drawings lack a ground line, which makes the figures seem to
float. This warrior, however, looks as if he jumped into the air, for his toes point
downward and he has his legs together, not spread as one does when throwing a spear
while standing on the ground. With the dancing Woden on the Torslunda die (Figure 1.6)

Ancient Germanic warriors 104
he shares the heavy spear, the sword girt to his hip, the dance step, and, it seems, even the
twin-dragon headgear. 30 He thus may be a forerunner of Woden the spear dancer. 31
Germanic weapon dancers could stir a crowd, as Tacitus notes:
As a public show at every gathering, naked youths whose sport this is
fling themselves about in a dance between swords and threatening spears.
Training has produced skill, and skill grace, but they do it not for gain or
any payment: however daring their abandon, the onlookers’ delight is
their only reward. 32
Tacitus calls this dance a spectaculum, a show to delight onlookers, and this it may well
have been. 33 Before battle, though, its role was likely to rouse men to fight. As few
Germanic warriors owned swords, 34 the spear-and-sword dancers would have belonged to
the high-born who led men into battle.
The earliest known images unmistakably made by Germani are the sword dancers
from Himlingøje in East Sealand, Denmark. Embossed on gilt silver foils that overlay a
pair of third-century cups, naked dancers leap with drawn swords and animals bound
about in scenes full of life and ecstasy.
Figure 11.1 Spear dancer. Rock
drawing from Tanum, Bohuslän. Photo
after Altheim, Literatur 1948, plate
XX (with permission of Max
Niemeyer Verlag).

War dances 105
Remarkably, the dancers wear a cap-like headgear like that of Woden or Balder on the
Års medallion (Figure 11.2). Silver and gold mark these cups as belonging to princes, and
as the cups were made locally by order of the rulers, the sword dance seems to have been
a high point of life for East Sealand princes, something they wanted to call to mind when
drinking in style—and no wonder, for Tacitus says the weapon dance was the Germani’s
main voluptas. 35
In the early Middle Ages too the war god is shown doing the spear-and-sword dance.
A fifth-century bracteate amulet from Års in Denmark depicts Woden or Balder as a
naked dancer (Figure 11.2). 36
Like the Finglesham dancer (Figure 11.3), the Års dancer wears a strange headgear,
and like all naked weapon dancers, a belt. Wearing also a neckband and sprouting a tail,
he twirls more weapons than an ordinary man
Figure 11.2 War god, dancing.
Bracteate medallion from Års,
Denmark. IK 7. Dansk
Nationalmuseet, inv. no. 14/14;
Museum photograph by Jesper Weng.

Ancient Germanic warriors 106
could hold: a shield, an ax, a spear, and a club, all at the same time. 37 He touches his chin
with the thumb of his right hand, a power-gesture that dancing Balder and Woden also
make on other bracteate amulets. 38
The bent shape of the god’s club on the amulet does not make it a boomerang, as has
been said. Boomerangs are quite unlike such a heavy, knotted club that could never return
to a thrower’s hand. 39 Nor does the bent spear betoken self-sacrifice as has also been
suggested. 40 Club, spear, and ax are bent for another reason—to show how sharply the
god shakes them as he dances. 41 Spears are often shown bent when about to be thrown, 42
and though they are nowhere bent as much as on the Års amulet, the idea is the same. His
bent spear shows the god dancing in ecstasy. 43
The huge “crest” on the god’s headgear has led scholars to take the figure on the Års
amulet to be Mars. The cap with its long “nose guard,” however, is altogether nonclassical
and as little related to the Roman Mars as are the tail, the ax, and the club of the
dancing god. 44 The god, then, is not Mars, but a Germanic war god. Like the headgear of
the Torslunda and Finglesham dancers (Figures 1.6, 11.3), that of the Års dancer reaches
far down over fore-head and nose, to secure a good hold. The “crest,” far too long for a
helmet plume, is a dragon. 43 Its length matches that of a dragon on a dancer’s cap
depicted on a metal foil from Windisch in Switzerland. 46 Close parallels are found in
other shapes of Woden’s headgear on bracteate amulets, at times ending in bird (-dragon)
heads. Bird-dragon headgear, as we will see, fits well with Woden’s role as a weapon
dancer. 47
The bent-up tip of the god’s tail on the Års medallion may mark a wolf tail. On the
Torslunda die (Figure 1.6) and on the Oseberg wall-hanging (Figure 11.5), Woden dances
before champion wolf-warriors. On a bracteate amulet from Gudbrandsdalen, Norway he
bears a wolf on his helmet. The tail on the Års medallion thus may well mark the god’s
bond with wolf-warriors, for wolf hoods of early medieval warriors do show such tails
(Figures 1.3, 1.6). 48
Like the Torslunda die (Figure 1.6), so several figurines found in Sweden and the
Oseberg wall-hanging (Figure 11.5) suggest that Woden war-danced to spur men to
battle, to give them the reckless fighting mood that comes from ecstatic dancing. Adam
von Bremen calls this mood furor, warriors themselves called it manhood. 49 Woden’s
way was to help his men indirectly rather than by fighting alongside: he heartened them
by the war dance and made them wound-proof, while striking foes with fear and
blindness, and blunting their weapons. 50
The spear-and-sword dance described by Tacitus appears again on a sixth-century
Anglo-Saxon belt buckle from Finglesham in Kent (Figure 11.3). 51 Like the dancer on the
Års bracteate amulet, the Finglesham dancer is naked, wearing only a dragon headpiece
and a “power belt.” 52 His bent feet show him dancing. Naked between spears, he recalls
Tacitus’ skilled weapon dancers. Lack of sword, club, and shield, while no doubt due to
abbreviation, allows the god to step lightly as he twirls his “threatening spears.” Also due
to abbreviation is the lack of such flaps (snake-dragon tails or tresses) at the side of the
headgear as are seen on the Torslunda die (Figure 1.6) and the Sutton Hoo foils.
Like the dancer on the Års medallion, the one on the Finglesham belt buckle has no
sword, while other evidence, from Tacitus to the tenth-century Björkö statuette, shows
such dancers holding swords as well as spears. Though due to abbreviation, the lack of a
sword on the Års medallion and the Finglesham buckle might suggest that in this dance

War dances 107
spears matter more than swords, which may be reflected also in the name Gisalec, “Spear
Dancer” (not to mention Shakespeare). 53 On the other hand, the second-century
Himlingøje cup dancers hold only a sword in what seems to be the same dance.
On the Torslunda die (Figure 1.6) the dancer with the twin-dragon head-gear is clearly
Woden, for he has only one eye. 54 A ninth-century statuette from Uppåkra, near Lund,
Sweden, likewise depicts a one-eyed Woden in
Figure 11.3 Weapon dancer. Gilt belt
buckle from Finglesham, Kent. Photo:
Institute of Archaeology, Oxford.
twin-dragon headgear. 55 Other leaders might also wear this headgear, as does the lone
weapon dancer who performs before Woden on a bracteate amulet found at Kitnæs,
Denmark. Hence the Finglesham dancer, who is not one-eyed, may be Woden, Balder,
one of the Dioscuri, or an unknown battle lord. 56 To the high-ranking warrior who owned

Ancient Germanic warriors 108
the Finglesham belt buckle, the war dance mattered very much, since he displayed it so
eye-catchingly.
Fifth-century Franks also worshiped Woden (or Balder) as their war-dance leader. The
famous tile from Grésin, in the heart of France, portrays Jesus Christ as a weapon
dancer. 57 Juggling spear and shield, this Christ, like Balder on bracteate amulets, has a
sword swoshing through the air. 58 As with the dancers depicted on the Års bracteate
amulet and the Finglesham belt buckle, his penis shows—a stunning assimilation to the
war-dance god. Since Christ could hardly stand in for a lesser god, the tile is evidence for
Woden (or Balder) worship among the Franks who conquered Gaul. Most important, it
illustrates the central role of the war dance among Frankish warriors at the time.
That a dancer in twin-dragon headgear need not be Woden is clear also from metal
foils on Vendel helmets in Sweden and England that portray two such dancers in one
scene. 59 Because there are two dancers, they cannot be Woden. However, they may be the
divine twins, his sons, the Dioscuri, who according to Greeks and Vedic Indians invented
and performed the war song and the war dance. 60 Perhaps the Germanic image of the two
dancers derived from Roman reliefs of the Dioscuri, 61 which would be fitting, as the latter
portray the same subject: Indo-European cognate twins of warrior mythology.
A silver foil from Caenby, Licolnshire with a similar dancer shows the “flaps” to the
side of the twin-dragon headgear shaped even more like snake tails than those of the
Torslunda die (Figure 1,6). Very likely they are the tails of the snake-dragons on the
headgear. 62 A tool-hilt from Dover with a similar dancer adds an important detail: the
twin-dragon headgear is fastened to the dancer’s head with several straps, hence with the
care one would expect for a precariously perched dancing cap or mask. 63
While the Himlingøje, Års, and Finglesham dancers are naked, twin-dragon dancers
on the Sutton Hoo helmet of a slightly later date are dressed. So is the Caenby dancer and
others portrayed by Swedish statuettes down to the tenth century. 64 The change, found in
other early medieval images too, 65 may have to do with the change from tribal to
aristocratic warfare: when hauberks became the usual battle dress, unarmored garb took
the place of nakedness.
Dancers with twin-dragon headgear might also be kings or war-leaders. A poem by the
twelfth-century skald Einar Skulason speaks of “the dragon cap a famous king wears
boldly.” Likewise, two dancers wearing dragon head-gear may have been twin brothers in
the role of joint army leaders or kings, well-known among Germanic nations. 66 If so, they
both embodied gods to make earthly battles mythical. Germanic rulers at high festivals
embodied Woden in the belief that during battle Woden possessed them. 67
Hence dragon dancers may be kings celebrating festivals or rousing followers to
battle. Indeed, the use of dragons in battle to mark Celtic, Germanic, and late Roman
leaders was an abiding tradition, still found on the eleventh-century Bayeux tapestry. 68
Kings led armies by their dragons, the signum regis, whether the dragons perched on their
standard or on their headgear. The many wyrm-warrior names show that dragon
symbolism mattered to the men also. 69
Reliefs on the shorter Gallehus horn from Denmark, made around AD 400, begin with
gods doing the weapon dance. 70 As the gods’ actions are “the exemplary model for all
significant human activities,” 71 dragon-helmet dancers from the fifth-century Års amulet
to the tenth-century silver statuette from Björkö imply that as long as they worshiped
Woden, warriors danced themselves into fighting fury. 72

War dances 109
Though the tribal warfare of antiquity gave way over time to that of much smaller
warbands in the early Middle Ages, many of the old fighting styles endured: Vendel
helmet decorations show naked warriors, horse-stabbers, wolf-warriors, and dancers,
much as in antiquity. 73 Like Hector, to whom war itself was dance, early medieval rulers
took pride in battlefield dancing skills and may have danced between battle lines as did
Totila, king of the Goths, in AD 552, decked out in golden weapons and insignia. 74
Beowulf speaks of sword-”play,” and the Germanic word laikaz means dance, song, or
game, as well as battle. 75 Warrior names such as “war dancer,” “weapon dancer,” “spear
dancer,” “bear-dancer” and “wolf-dancer” abound. 76 Germanic battle lords, like
Hellenistic kings and field marshals, sought to be fighters-as-dancers, thereby turning a
fight into an artful yet risky ‘game’. 77
The masked ancestor dance
Silvered belt fittings from seventh-century Bavaria depict three kinds of masks: those of
twin-dragon dancers, wolf-warriors, and long-hairs (Figure 11.4). 78
The three strap-ends illustrated in Figure 11.4 are the largest and most carefully
decorated pieces among sets of sixteen or so smaller belt fittings found in warrior graves.
Though unearthed in different places, they are made of the same material, in the same
shape, and by the same technique, each depicting two long, rectangular images. The mask
above the twin-dragon images, and the big holes for the eyes, make it clear that they
represent masks. 79
The twin-dragon headgear depicted on the left strap-end has not been identified so far,
but comparison with Figures 1.6, 11.1, 11.2, 11.3 leaves little doubt that this is Woden’s
war-dance headgear. The god’s long, pointed beard is clearly marked here, as on the Års
medallion, the Finglesham belt buckle, and the Björkö statuette. The masks are
noteworthy as rare evidence of the twin-dragon war-dance headgear in southern
Germany. 80
The wolves depicted on the middle strap-end are recognizable from their pointed ears,
broadening noses, and round muzzles. Yet these are not portraits of animals themselves,
but wolf-hoods worn by men clad in the same kind of vertically striped, belted garment as
the dragon dancers.
The third strap-end on the right shows masks with lined squares above and below the
faces that may indicate hair and beard. Found on the same kind of strap-end, these masks
likely represent warriors as well, perhaps long-hair warriors. Since the three strap-ends
are so much alike, the masks they depict must have been used in the same ceremony,
which, given the twindragon headgear, very likely was Woden’s war dance.
World-wide, warriors danced with masks on festive occasions to bring mythic
ancestors and their power into the present to renew the world, and to reach the ecstasy of
the beginning. 81 At festivals and battles, Germani too called their gods, heroes, and
ancestors into the present. 82 Hence the masks depicted on the strap-ends, by far the oldest
known images of Germanic

Ancient Germanic warriors 110
Figure 11.4 Ancestor masks of twindragon
dancers, wolf-warriors, and
long-hairs (?). Strap-ends from
Oberwarngau, Feldmoching, and
Obenvangen, Bavaria. Photos:
Prähistorische Staatssammlung,
München.
masks, 83 may have stood for such Bavarian ancestors as Woden-sprung kings, wolfwarriors,
and long-hairs. 84 The power of ancestors is needed most when going into battle,
which is why warriors called on them at such times by their songs, 85 and, as the strapends
show, by their masked dances. The Frankish king Childerich (died 481–2) may have
had a mask hanging from his spear.
Years after conversion to Christianity, Saxon noblemen still danced with weapons in
honor of the dead. In the mid-eleventh century, Bishop Gunther von Bamberg wore a
mask of Theoderic the hero as he performed a spear-and-sword dance. 86 Two hundred

War dances 111
years later, knights of the Hohenstaufen emperors watched war dances that came down
from heathen, cultic performances more than a thousand years earlier. 87
Dance on the battlefield
War dance leaders must have had high rank, for the strap-ends are rich grave goods.
Besides, the widely used Germanic name Ansehelm, “He with Woden’s Helmet,” 88 likely
refers to Woden’s twin-dragon headgear; and since such names represent warrior ideals,
war-dance leaders will have stood in high honor—as Tacitus says of weapon dancers.
They may also have been war leaders. The Norwegian Oseberg wall-hanging from
around AD 800 seems to show war-dance leaders spurring warriors in a shield castle
(Figure 11.5). 89
The wagon at the bottom and the women standard bearers before the line make it clear
that the scene on the wall-hanging is the legendary battle at Bråvalla, where Harald
Wartooth of Denmark, being old, fought his last battle from a wagon. With its wellmarshaled
shield castle, the wall-hanging underscores the wonted orderliness of the battle
array before fighting begins.
A tall figure in the lower left of the wall-hanging wears the twin-dragon headgear and
holds two crossed spears. 90 Being one-eyed, he may be Woden, known to have been at
Bråvalla. He is turning back toward the warriors, as if to beckon them. Two hooded and,
it seems, masked wolf- or bear-warriors follow him. Another fragment of the Oseberg
wall-hanging shows the figure of a boar-warrior who, raising the shield to the height of
the mouth, chants the barritus (see Figure 4.3).
By his war-dance Woden on the Torslunda die rouses the wolf-hooded warrior (Figure
1.6). He seems to be doing the same on the Oseberg wall-hanging. By “howling and
shaking weapons,” as Hornklofi said, the wolf-warrior battle lords brought the ecstasy of
gods and ancestors and the fighting fury that was true manhood to the men of the shield
wall. At Bråvalla the king in his wagon, being old, did not lead the dance, leaving that to
the hooded champions.
To bring about an army-wide unleashing of strength and madness, the weapon dance
of the skilled few needed to be linked to the barritus dance of the many. Perhaps the
rhythm of both dances was the same, so the spear-and-sword dance could ignite the
barritus of the shield wall. Even though the gestures of shield-wall barritus dancers had
to be more restrained than those of dance leaders, the two groups may have marched to
the same threestep beat, with the ecstasy of the gods and ancestors, embodied by the
leaders, stirring all to fighting fury.
For barritus chanters on the Valsgärde helmet (Figure 10.1), as well as the dancers on
the Oseberg wall-hanging, birds have a role, and so do snake-dragons (wyrms), whether
they go beside the warriors or hiss from the head of the war-dance leader. The birds call
to mind the ancient war cries, Greek, Roman, and Germanic, that sounded like flocks of
birds.

Ancient Germanic warriors 112
Figure 11.5 The Battle at Bråvalla.
Oseberg wall-hanging, Oslo. Drawing
copyright University Museum of
Cultural Heritage, University of Oslo,
Norway.
The tenth-century Lokasenna of the Edda says that the gods chased Loki away into the
woods (that is, into outlawry), shaking their shields and howling at him. 91 Although this
was not a battle, it was nevertheless a collective use of weapons as in a fight. It follows
that in battles the gods also brandished their shields and yelled the war cry. The shieldswinging
barritus war dance, then, like other warrior rituals, was god-sprung. Dancing it
meant doing what the gods had done in the beginning.

Part 5
CHURLS

12
DART-THROWERS
The foot also hurl throwing weapons, each man several,
and they shoot them immensely far, being naked or lightly
clad in a cloak.
Tacitus, Germania
Known by the Late Bronze Age as an effective weapon, darts or light spears have the
great advantage that a warrior can handle a whole handful. Even the Roman imperial
army used darts: reliefs show soldiers, both foot and horse, armed with small, round
shields and bundles of short spears. Arrian says Roman horsemen exercised with darts. 1
Germanic warriors threw darts too. Roman reliefs of the mid-first century show
bundles of captured short spears with barbed and smooth blades: they may well be
Germanic. Moreover, in AD 15 the Roman field marshal Germanicus told his soldiers
that while only the first line of Cherusci tribesmen had long spears, the rest had praeusta
aut brevia tela, “fire-hardened or short weapons.” 2 The short weapons clearly are the
archaeologically well-known, all-purpose spears with narrow iron blades. The firehardened
ones are likely to be shafted weapons as well, for so are the other two kinds of
weapons Germanicus mentions. Germanicus thus speaks of three different kinds of
spears: long ones, shorter, iron-tipped ones, and fire-hardened ones.
In his Germania Tacitus likewise refers to three kinds of spears: big spears, irontipped
frameae spears, and missilia: “The foot also hurl throwing weapons (missilia),
each man several, and they shoot them immensely far, being naked or lightly clad in a
cloak.” 3 Had Tacitus, by missilia, meant rocks or sling shot he would not have said that
each man had several as that would have been self-evident. Nor can he mean clubs, for
they do not fly far. 4 The missilia thus are light spears, different from frameae, in that they
reached much further than regular, iron-tipped spears. 5
In a closely comparable passage Strabo says that Celts and Germani had three kinds of
spears: big spears, madaris spears, and small, all-wooden darts that they hurled even
further than arrows fly. 6 It is the same threefold series of spears as in the two passages by
Tacitus: big spears, medium-length iron tipped ones, and all-wooden ones that fly very
far. The three passages confirm and explain each other and show that Germanic tribes at
the turn of our era indeed used all-wooden darts in battle.
The length of the light spears is unknown. While the all-wooden, barbed spear, now in
the British Museum, that on February 14,1779 killed Captain Cook on the island of
Hawaii, is 2.61 meters long, 7 late-Roman javelins, from 1.00 to 1.65 meters long, may
give a better idea of the darts’ length. 8 Not all Germanic darts need have lacked iron tips,
but many did, as we know from other sources as well, witness the Old Norse word for
spear, sviða, that at first meant “spear with fire-hardened tip.” 9

Dart-throwers 115
Light spears stayed in use for many centuries after Tacitus. Some fourth-and fifthcentury
Germanic graves contained up to eleven darts in a quiver, 10 though we do not
know whether their owners were horsemen or foot warriors. 11 Since these darts had iron
blades, their owners clearly were not poor. 12 Dart throwers might even be heroes: they
could show their mettle when at the beginning of battle skirmishers rushed out before the
line to taunt and harass the foe. A feature of most battles in antiquity, such skirmishing
was part of Germanic tactics as well: Tacitus tells how in AD 69 Batavian skirmishers
with sling-shot, rocks, and other missilia tried to lure Roman forces to attack on swampy
ground. 13
Throwers of all-wooden darts were often lowly warriors, as can be gathered from
Snorri Sturluson’s remark that in the battle at Stiklastad in AD 1030, those in the rear
threw shafts with pointed stones. 14 If Norwegians of the eleventh century threw shafts
with pointed stones, then the throwers of all-wooden darts in Tacitus’ time too may have
done so less for lack of iron than for being poor.
Tacitus nevertheless praises the churls for throwing their darts in immensum. Indeed,
as we have seen in the chapter on shield castles, the often decisive boar-snout attack
depended on them as much as on the elite warriors in front, for their darts, hurled from
the whole width and depth of the wedge, all came down on the breaking point of the
enemy line, making it crumble before the attacking boar snout. Though they were poor,
dart-hurling churls were warriors to reckon with.

13
ROCK-THROWERS
Caesar learned that Ariovistus’ horsemen were coming
closer to the hill and rode up to our men, throwing rocks
and spears at them.
Caesar, Gallic War
It would be wrong to look down on rock-throwing. In the sixth century BC Tyrtaios’
poems admonish the Spartan hind ranks to steadily keep up throwing rocks against the
foe. In the battle at Plataeae, a well-flung rock hit and killed Mardonios, the Persian
commander, sitting on his horse. Emperor Augustus too was hit by a rock in battle. 1
Like spears or darts, rocks could bring down a man from far away. They were cheap
and plentiful and hard to see or dodge. They worked well against horsemen, horses being
such large targets, and they worked well from horse-back as the epigraph to this chapter
shows: Ariovistus’ horse guard, very likely wheeling right in a circle, hurled rocks at
Caesar’s horse guard. 2 The claim that rock-throwing proves the “inefficiency” of
Germanic cavalry is mistaken, for Hadrian’s own Batavi horse guard trained in throwing
stones while riding by. 3
Rocks for throwing could be heavy: in AD 9 a Germanic horseman by the name of
Pusio (“Little John”) in the service of Germanicus hurled a rock of such size against the
wall of Splonum in Dalmatia that it broke the breast-work and brought down a defender
who was leaning against it. This so frightened the others that they fled and the wall was
taken. In the mid-third century, the Goths tried to take Marcianopolis by throwing rocks. 4
Vegetius never tires of saying that Roman soldiers must learn to throw rocks well. Yet
hurling well-aimed rocks is an art best learned in childhood, which gave northern
warriors an advantage. 5 Rocks, easily found in river beds, also suited northern warriors
who lacked a supply line to repair and replenish their weapons during a campaign. 6
Rocks that served as weapons have been recovered from Germanic graves, and Germanic
slingers are shown on the Aurelian Column, ready to shoot across a river. Like darts,
rocks still served as weapons in the Middle Ages, above all in sea battles. Works of art
and written sources stress their role in battle. 7
Standing behind the shield wall, guarded by first-rank elite fighters with long spears
and big shields, churls shot arrows 8 and hurled sling-shot, rocks, and darts. Halfway
between elite warriors and churls ranked those who, according to Tacitus, fought with
iron-tipped frameae spears both from afar and from close up and who could therefore
take a place in the front line of the shield castle if need be. Bowmen, slingers, dart- and
rocks-throwers could not and therefore ranked lower, even though they may have
outnumbered all others.
From the first century AD to the time of the sagas this social structure of Germanic
armies seems to have changed very little, for as we have seen when looking at shield

Rock-throwers 117
castles, whenever columns (cunei) or shield castles clashed with one another, kings and
elite warriors fought in the first lines and churls in the rear. Of the battle at Stiklastad in
AD 1030, Snorri Sturlusson says:
Those who stood foremost struck blows, those standing next behind them
thrust with their spears, whilst those behind let fly both with spears or
arrows or threw stones or hand-axes or shafts with pointed stones. 9
Even the ratio of churls to elite warriors, it seems, stayed the same from antiquity to the
Middle Ages. Just as most first-century warriors, according to Tacitus, had but short or
fire-hardened javelins while only those in the first rank wielded long lances, so Anglo-
Norman churls in the eleventh century backed their elite warriors in the first line by
making ranks dense enough to withstand cavalry charges and allowing knights to focus
on specific attacks within the battle. 10

Part 6
HORSEMEN

14
LANCERS
[Hadrian ordered Roman horsemen to practice] the attackand-flight
maneuvers of Sarmatian and Germanic lancers
riding in formation.
Arrian, Tactica
Lancers in antiquity
Horsemen have used lances, long thrusting spears, ever since cavalry itself came to be,
and such weapons are found among many Indo-European nations: a Mycenaean
horseman wields a big lance about 1200 BC; Massagetae and Chorasmians of Central
Asia had horse lancers by the early first millennium; and Median lancers are known by
the eighth century BC. 1 A Celtic Hallstatt scabbard of the fifth-century BC shows
horsemen with spears twice as long as their steeds, 2 and according to Polybius, Roman
horsemen of the Middle Republic fought with such weapons. 3
Germanic horsemen too wielded long spears, as seen in scene 5 of Trajan’s Column
that portrays the emperor’s bodyguard of Equites Singulares Augusti or Batavi (Figure
14.1). 4
In this scene, five guardsmen have alighted and stand behind the dais on which the
emperor holds a council of war. A masonry wall marks them off from another column of
soldiers who arrive from the left, also with horses. The guardsmen bear small-bladed long
lances, the only shaft weapons on Trajan’s Column. The artist, it seems, depicted the
unusual lances because they characterized this part of Trajan’s bodyguard. 5
One of the lances, held upside down, is fitted with a ball at the end. The ball, a
counterweight, strengthened the weapon’s thrust. By moving the center of gravity farther
back, it also allowed the warrior to hold the lance nearer the butt end and thereby
lengthen the reach of the blade. Late Roman horse guards too wielded lances with
counterweight balls. 6
Tacitus, as we have seen, says that some first-century Germanic warriors fought with
long spears, but scholars wondered whether he meant only foot

Ancient Germanic warriors 120
Figure 14.1 Lancers of Trajan’s
bodyguard. Trajan’s Column, scene 5.
Photo: Deutsches Archäologisches
Institut, Rome, Inst. Neg. 31.259
or both foot and horse. Scene 5 of Trajan’s Column answers that question, as do lance
blades found in graves containing spurs: Germanic horse too fought with long spears. 7
The Batavi horsemen who in AD 69 overran Otho’s gladiators, are likely to have used
such lances, as horse could hardly otherwise overcome well-armored foot. 8
The lances of the horse guard on Trajan’s Column are long but not bulky. The lance of
a trooper serving in ala I Canninefatium at Gerulata (Rusovce in Slovakia), on the other
hand, is thick as well as long (Figure 14.2). 9

Lancers 121
While other pictures of spear bearers often shorten the length of the weapon to fit the
length of the warrior, the Gerulata picture devotes nearly half its space to portray the
length and bulk of the shaft. Clearly, the horseman took
Figure 14.2 Horseman holding a huge
lance. Gravestone from Gerulata,
Slovakia. Hošek, Tituli 1984, 54ff., no.
23: Sandstone, 110×90×22 cm. I owe
the photograph to the kindness of Dr
Schmidtová, Bratislava.
pride in the weapon on his shoulder. 10 Its shaft is longer than that of any other lance on
Roman gravestones—nearly twice as long as the horse. Growing thick toward the butt, it
looks heavy indeed, but massiveness strengthened its thrust and kept it from breaking. It
was therefore an outstanding weapon against horse or foot arrayed behind shields. Its
length served for thrusting rather than cutting and thus used only a small blade. Like
medieval lances, it has a triangular pennon behind the blade. What use the pennon was
we do not know; perhaps it served as a badge or for signaling; certainly the shaft is so
massive that a pennon would not interfere with its use. 11 The unusually heavy spear was
not standard Roman equipment, but a special weapon of ala I Canninefatium.
Tacitus says Canninefates had the same origin and language as Batavi, with whom
they shared the island at the mouth of the Rhine. And though fewer than the Batavi, they
were no less brave. 12 The ala raised among them joined the Batavian uprising and was
thus moved out of Lower Germany in AD 70. By AD 92 it was in Gerulata in Upper
Pannonia to defend the province against Germanic Quadi, whose horsemen also wielded
long spears. 13 By the time the trooper’s gravestone was set up, sometime in the second
century AD, the unit had been away from the lower Rhine for fifty or even a hundred
years. Yet it could very well have kept up Canninefatian fighting traditions in weapons as
well as tactics. Hadrian wanted Germanic cavalry tactics preserved in the Roman army,

Ancient Germanic warriors 122
as the epigraph to this chapter shows; and like the Batavi horse guard, regular Roman
auxiliary units often held on to their native fighting styles. 14 Hence, the lance of the
Gerulata trooper seems to be a Canninefatian Germanic weapon, one of the oversized
lances Tacitus calls hastae ingentes or enormes hastae. 15
Such a heavy weapon was far more dangerous to the enemy than an ordinary lance. 16
But there was a price to be paid for carrying it. Only a man of towering strength could
wield it, and the Gerulata horse, huge as it is, may have borne the weight of lance and
rider only because the rider lacked helmet, hauberk, and shield.
Lances with shafts of even width could be held in many ways: overarm, underarm, at
the height of the thigh with the right arm nearly straight, or held up by the knee, couched
as in the Middle Ages, or gripped with both hands. 17 Some horsemen of ala I
Canninefatium must have had such lighter lances of even width, for we know that they
used them in the “Sarmatian” way, held with both hands. 18 The thick Canninefatian lance,
on the other hand, was best borne on the shoulder when not thrust or thrown. Maurice
describes this at the end of the sixth century, when he states that “blond” peoples hold
their lances on their shoulders—further evidence that the Gerulata lance is a Germanic
weapon. 19
With such a lance a warrior might still jab or throw but he could not wheel around
easily or use the weapon in the many ways of a light, slender lance. Clearly, fighting with
heavy lances required tactics other than Sarmatian wheelings. Hence, as in the epigraph
to this chapter, Arrian distinguished Germanic from Sarmatian lancer maneuvers. 20
The Gerulata rider holds his weapon on the left, and so do others, as shown in Figure
14.3. He may do so for practical as well as artistic reasons: if horsemen wanted to ride off
to the right after an attack, as both Romans and Germani usually did, they had to fight
with the lance on the left. 21 In the later Middle Ages, the lance, held on the right but
pointed left across the neck of the horse, served the same purpose.
For many miles downstream from Gerulata along the Danube, Romans faced Quadi.
To deal with them, Trajan raised a cavalry unit armed with long lances, ala I Ulpia
Contariorum, 1,000 strong, that became the leading cavalry unit in Upper Pannonia,
holding the fort at Arrabona (Györ in Hungary) in the middle of the Quadian frontier. 22
Whether these troopers used slender or bulky weapons, lancers were the most effective
fighters against Quadi. 23
Still further downstream, perhaps at Aquincum (Budapest), stood the gravestone of
Flavius Bonio who served in the ala I Tungrorum Frontoniana. Like the Gerulata trooper,
Bonio holds a long lance on his shoulder while his steed walks quietly. With his shield on
the left and the lance on the right, he may have served a tactical role other than that of the
Gerulata trooper—like wheeling to the left—but the technique of holding the lance on the
shoulder was the same. Very likely his long-lance fighting style also came from Lower
Germany, for ala Tungrorum like ala Canninefatium had stayed there until the time of the
Batavian uprising in AD 69–70, and Germani were still serving in it in Pannonia. 24
Hadrian trained his lancers to ride attacks in both Sarmatian and Germanic fashion. 25
Unlike moralists like Ammianus, who held lancers’ tactics of sweeping up and wheeling
away to befit robbers rather than warriors, Hadrian knew what was needed to win. 26
Lancers were dangerous, not only in recklessly straight assaults on cavalry as at
Adrianople in AD 378 but even against well-ordered foot. 27

Lancers 123
In the fourth century Ammianus defined the warrior style of the Alamannic king
Chnodomar by his huge lance. In AD 357 at the battle of Strassburg, he writes,
Chnodomar was “daring and confident in the vast strength of his hands, huge, high on a
foaming horse, and braced by a throwing spear of frightful size.” 28 Chnodomar’s great,
big spear heralded a warrior of overpowering strength. 29
Lancers in the early Middle Ages
An embossed plaque on the helmet found in grave 1 at Vendel shows a Swedish
horseman riding to battle (Figure 14.3). Wearing a boar helmet, the horseman carries a
sword, a shield, and a very thick spear. Like the
Figure 14.3 Horseman with a heavy
spear on his shoulder. Bronze foil from
the helmet in grave 1 at Vendel,
Uppland. After Stolpe and Arne,
Graffältet 1912, plate 5.2.
Gerulata trooper he holds the spear with one hand, resting it on his shoulder. Similar
scenes suggest that he will either thrust or throw the spear. Indeed, during the early
Middle Ages most lances were used for throwing as well as thrusting. 30 Even the heavy,

Ancient Germanic warriors 124
winged lances held by horsemen on the Vendel-helmet foils could be used both ways like
the lances on the eleventh-century Bayeux tapestry.
By good luck we have a description from around AD 600 about maneuvering with
shouldered lances. In his Byzantine army handbook Maurice describes a ten-man deep
cavalry attack of 320 men, in which the first two lines (dekarchs and pentarchs) are
lancers:
The dekarchs and pentarchs lean forward, guarding their head and part of
their horse’s neck with their shield while holding the lance on their
shoulder like the “blond” peoples. Hidden beneath their shield, they
advance in good order, at a canter only and not too wild, so that the
vehemence of the charge does not break up the ranks before they come to
blows, which is a real risk. The bowmen behind them shoot. 31
Together, the Gerulata gravestone, the Vendel plaque, and Maurice’s description leave no
doubt that cavalry attacks with shoulder-held spears were a Germanic fighting technique.
Maurice wants Byzantine lancers to use this technique as it was efficient, but perhaps
also as many Byzantine horsemen were of Germanic origin and already skilled in it.
Maurice thus lets us see what Arrian meant in the early second century when he
reported that Germanic lancers rehearsed the formations in which they fought. One of
these formations must have been the attack with shoulder-held lances. It breathes the
same spirit of order in battle, of keeping the ranks unbroken until the clash with the foe,
that characterized the shield castle of the foot described in Chapter 9, to which it is
related. Only during hand-to-hand fighting did unbridled recklessness take over. 32
Another passage of Maurice has been translated to say that “Germanic warriors prefer
fighting on foot and in rapid charges (elasia),” which would mean that they preferred
fighting on foot over fighting on horseback. Yet Maurice uses the word elasia always for
cavalry charges. 33 Hence this passage too should refer to cavalry charges, stating that
early medieval warriors delighted in both, fighting on foot and on horseback.
Little is known of early medieval cavalry formations in northern Europe save that
Germanic horsemen at all periods could alight to fight on foot. 34 The foils on Vendel
helmets and the Pliezhausen disc (Figure 17.5) show that lancers attacked at a canter, just
as Maurice wanted it to be done. But they say nothing about formations. This makes
Maurice’s testimony all the more valuable. Maurice’s passage, revealing the Germanic
cavalry attack formation with shoulder-held lances as the model for sixth-century
Byzantine cavalry, shows that the northern lancer tradition continued in full force from
antiquity into the Middle Ages. 35
The most outstanding feat of fighting with the thrusting spear is seen on a helmet-foil
scene from Valsgarde that shows a lancer on horseback lifting his foe bodily into the air
at the tip of his lance while the victim flails with arms and legs. 36 It is the great
triumphant image of the time, Thorolf’s deed in Egils saga, here done on horseback. 37
Fighting from horseback with a huge lance was thus a Germanic warrior style from
early Batavi and Canninefates horsemen to those of the Vendel period and on to knights
of the high Middle Ages, with their heavy, couched lances.

15
SPEAR-THROWERS
They carry spears…with a narrow and short iron blade, but
so sharp and handy that they fight with the same weapon
as needed either from afar or from close-up. Even
horsemen make do with shield and spear. Tacitus,
Germania
Barbed spears in antiquity
Most Germanic warriors, whether foot or horse, were spear-throwers. 1 Unlike Celts and
Romans, however, they often had among their weapons a spear with barbs. 2 West- and
north-Germanic graves from the end of the pre-Roman Iron Age onward yield barbed
spears. 3 Roman triumphal art such as Caligula’s silver disc from Niederbieber and firstcentury
coins also portray Germanic barbed spears and so does a gravestone from the late
second century AD showing Quadi warriors: 4 Romans, it seems, took barbed spears to be
typically Germanic.
The advantages and disadvantages of barbed blades are hard to assess. They cause
more frightful flesh wounds and are hard to pull out, yet throughout ancient warfare far
fewer barbed spears are found than smooth-bladed ones. In antiquity, only a rare Greek
spear-fighter of the Geometric period has such a weapon, and only the Iberian Lusitani
were known for (all-iron) barbed javelins. 5 Designed to slow down prey, barbed spears
were often used in hunting, but seldom in war. There must have been a price to be paid
for using them, but we do not know whether the price was that they penetrated less, cost
more, broke more easily, or handled more awkwardly than smooth-bladed spears.
Perhaps they were less honorable. 6
Barbed spears worked best against unarmored foes and horses. Thus, in Hannibal’s
war against Rome in 211 BC, Roman light velites with hooked spears (incurvae hastae)
brought down the Capuan horse. 7 Like Roman velites, Germani may have used barbed
spears against unarmored foes and horses. Not only did most of their foes—other
Germani—lack armor, which made the use of barbed spears against them especially
effective, but, like velites, Germanic foot ran with the horse, fought alongside, and
wounded enemy steeds and riders from below, for which barbed spears were the best
weapons. 8
Several one-barbed spear blades have been found. 9 Handy for throwing, thrusting, and
cutting in hand-to-hand combat, they are also good for tearing at a foe’s shield or
helmet. 10 A one-barbed spear could pull a rider from his horse. The devil too found such
a weapon useful, witness Dürer’s 1513 engraving “Knight, Death, Devil.”
A twin-barbed throwing spear is carved on a second-century gravestone of the Roman
emperor’s Batavi horse guard (Figure 15.1). 11
The owner of the gravestone was a weapon keeper (armorum custos), and like other
soldiers of that rank he had his weapons depicted in unwonted detail. Not only is his
barbed spear a Germanic weapon, but so is his long, truncated shield. 12 Since Batavi

Ancient Germanic warriors 126
horse guards trained in such Germanic tactics as swimming across rivers fully armed,
they must also have used Germanic weapons. 13 Tacitus spells this out when he writes that
Italicus, a Cheruscan prince, was trained in Rome “in the uses of weapons and horses
customary to both his native and our own forces.” Emperors raised their horse guard
among Germani, not only for their looks and trustworthiness but for their wonted fighting
styles too, one of which was the throwing of barbed spears. 14
In time, barbed spears became weapons of prestige. If one may trust Constantine’s
famous silver medallion from Ticinum, they were the main weapon of his horse guard. 15
Coins from Elagabalus (AD 218–222) to Romulus Augustulus (AD 476) show emperors
wielding barbed lanceolae spears. 16 To look like their guardsmen and share their fame,
emperors may indeed have wielded such spears. 17
Barbed spears are often found together with smooth-bladed ones. Both foot and horse
would first have thrown barbed spears, then come to blows with thrusting weapons. 18
One or two spears for throwing and one for hand-to-hand fighting are obvious choices for
warriors everywhere. 19 Hawaiian warriors had one long, smooth-bladed spear (3.6
meters) for thrusting, and two shorter ones (2.6 meters or less), sometimes barbed, for
throwing. 20
Barbed spears in the early Middle Ages
Germanic warriors still wielded barbed spears in the early Middle Ages. Finds from their
graves reveal that from the fourth century to the seventh, high-ranking Alamanni, Franks,
Saxons, and Bavarians fought with barbed spears. 21
Bronze foils on the sixth-century helmet found in grave 14 at Vendel pointedly illustrate
how barbed spears hampered foes: they stick in one fighter’s dress and another’s shield.
When warriors had two shaft weapons, one tended to be barbed, the other smooth-bladed.
This combination is known from graves of the first century AD in northern Germany,
from head-stones of third-century Germanic troops serving in the Roman army, from
Scandinavian graves a century later, and from dancers depicted on seventh-century
Vendel helmets. 22 The barbed spear was no doubt meant to be thrown first, while the
smooth-bladed spear might be either thrown or used in hand-to-hand fighting.

Spear-throwers 127
Figure 15.1 Spear and shield of a
second-century horse guardsman.
Gravestone, Rome. Photo: Michael
Speidel.
The painful but heroic response to a barbed spear that pierced both shield and flesh
was to break the shaft, with the blade still in the wound, thereby freeing the shield and

Ancient Germanic warriors 128
making it possible to pull out the blade. Doing this was, according to Jordanes, the glory
of Rugians in AD 501. It was also Byrhtnoth’s great deed in the battle of Maldon in AD
991. 23
The barbed spear is Woden’s weapon on fifth- and sixth-century bracteate amulets,
both on foot and on horseback. 24 Wielded by the god, the barbed spear by then was a
weapon of prestige. One of its Germanic names, it seems, was gaisaz, from which come
such atheling names as Ariogais (second century), Gaiseric (fifth century), Garibald
(sixth century), and Chrodegar (seventh century). 25
On some bracteate amulets, Woden’s spear has a throwing strap attached to the middle
of the shaft. Used since the second millennium BC by Indo-Europeans such as the
Philistines, the throwing or rifling strap is found on Germanic spears throughout the first
millennium of our era. 26 Easy to use with the first weapon thrown, it is not as easily used
thereafter in the midst of the fighting. It thus marks a spear as the weapon likely to be
used first. 27 Woden threw such a spear at the beginning of battle, 28 and spear-throwers
may have thought of themselves as repeating Woden’s throw.
Barbed spears were even brought up to date. By the fourth and fifth century most
leading warriors wore hauberks. Frankish noblemen, therefore, changed the barbed spear
into an ango whose narrow heavy head gave it enough thrust to pierce hauberks, and
whose shaft, wound with iron, could not be hacked off once it stuck in dress, armor,
shield, or flesh. Its weight meant that a warrior could carry only one ango, and its barbs
meant that, whether thrown or thrust, it could be used only once. Like regular barbed
spears it is therefore often found together with smooth-bladed weapons. Thrown or used
in hand-to-hand fighting, the ango worked well and stayed in use for several hundred
years. 29 Found only in very rich graves, it was, like all heavy spears, a weapon of elite
warriors.
After the seventh century, it seems, horsemen no longer used short spears, 30 but
barbed blades on long throwing spears are still prominent on the eleventh-century Bayeux
tapestry. In antiquity and the early Middle Ages, then, barbed blades gave Germanic
weaponry “a note of its own.” 31 In use since the pre-Roman Iron Age, they too mark
northern Europe’s abidingness of weaponry and fighting styles. 32

16
WHEELING RIGHT
They ride their horses straight ahead, or with one wheel to
the right, closing into a circle so no one is last.
Tacitus, Germania
When fighting on horseback first came to central Europe in the seventh-century BC,
Illyrian horsemen shot at least two spears at their foes as they closed in and before they
reached for the battle-ax. Celts must have done much the same, for Roman imperial
cavalry trained in the Celtic tradition hurled two, three, even four spears as they rode up
to the enemy. 1 Germanic horsemen did the same.
Throughout history, the classic cavalry attack was to ride straight into the enemy line,
horse or foot, and try to break it. Germanic horsemen rode such attacks as well, but while
this was best done with long spears, 2 few Germani used long spears or swords: their
horsemen “made do with shield and framea spear.” 3 A major mode of attack thus must
have been to throw spears from afar. This could be done particularly well when riding in
a circle within throwing distance, 4 a technique that added greatly to cavalry efficiency.
A battle between Cherusci and Batavi horsemen in AD 16 may be typical of Germanic
cavalry engagements. Feigning flight, the Cherusci had lured the Batavi under
Chariovalda onto level ground between hills before suddenly turning and attacking.
When the Batavi responded by defending themselves back to back, the Cherusci assailed
them “from afar and from up close,” hurling spears, it seems, from a distance while riding
in a circle, 5 and thrusting with spears from up close. It is hard to say why the Cherusci
used both forms of attack. Perhaps pride demanded that they not only shoot their foes
from a safe distance but show courage in hand-to-hand fighting. They must have been
skilled in both tactics, for nearly all Batavi, among them Chariovalda and many leading
men beside him, fell.
Tacitus describes the tactics of Germanic horse:
Nor are [their horses] taught to change their circular movements like ours.
They ride them straight ahead, or with one wheel to the right, closing into
a circle, so no one is last. 6
Scholars took Tacitus’ words to mean that Germanic horse had only one way of
attacking: riding up to the enemy and then turning away to the right. 7 Tacitus, however,
plainly speaks of two kinds of attack: one in which horsemen ride straight to the enemy
line, trying to break it, 8 and another in which they ride single file and wheel in a righthand
circle before the enemy line while throwing spears (or darts and rocks) at it. As
Germanic horsemen had throwing spears they could use for thrusting as well, the circling
could turn at once from a throwing into a thrusting attack. 9

Ancient Germanic warriors 130
While cantering in a circle, spear-throwing was kept up without a break, or in Tacitus’
words no one was “last.” The first to ride against the enemy thus circled back to follow
the last, thereby creating an unbroken circle. Describing how Roman horse trained for
this tactic, Arrian, like Tacitus, stresses the need to preserve the circle. 10 Even in a
straight line attack horsemen might shoot several spears at the enemy before closing in, 11
but in circling attacks footmen could keep on handing them fresh weapons at the far end
of the circle. 12
The right-circling maneuver required training but was easier than left-circling. In the
latter, the horseman had to shift hands, and the rider had to shift his shield towards the
enemy to guard his otherwise open right side. 13 The left-circling attack being so complex,
Germanic horsemen did not go in for it, according to Tacitus, though surely, like all
cavalry, they could wheel left in the open field. 14
Circling, even if only to the right, betrays discipline and skill: the horsemen had to
train for it. 15 They must have dressed their horses in a training rink, a schooling for which
their neighbors, the Celtic Sequani, were famous (though Ariovistus’ skilled horsemen
overcame them). 16 When under attack themselves, horsemen, to stand up to flights of
spears, needed great skill in forming a cavalry shield wall with shields locked both in
front and overhead. 17
By and large, ancient authors found Germanic fighting on horseback outstanding.
Hence when a leading authority on medieval warfare wonders whether Germani before
AD 500 had horsemen at all, the Dark Ages seem dark indeed. 18 Among Caesar’s army in
58 BC, rumor had it that Ariovistus’ Suebian troops, many of them horsemen, were
trained to the utmost, 19 and in Augustus’ time King Marbod of the Suebi had his horse
guard so well trained that it became a danger to the Roman Empire. 20 Tacitus may have
had circling attacks (and feigned flight) in mind when he wrote that the Tencteri tribe on
the Rhine excelled in equestris disciplina. 21 The vaunted indiscipline of the Germani,
then, did not intefere with their cavalry training, and one may believe Aurelius Victor
when he says that in AD 213 Caracalla, on the river Main, faced the Alamanni “who fight
wonderfully well from horseback.” 22
Warriors on foot prided themselves in how far they could throw a spear—Germani
could throw theirs in immensum.23 Roman horsemen took pride in hitting home with four
medium-heavy spears while riding up to the foe. Germanic horsemen, whose circling
attacks resembled Roman ones, surely also took pride in how many spears they could
shoot and how well they hit the foe before they closed in on him. 24 The result of it was
daunting firepower. 25
Weapons found in graves suggest that toward the end of the first century AD
Germanic horsemen had grown in number. Literary sources show that they grew further
still during the third century. 26 Their fighting power is borne out by the role Emperor
Maximinus gave them in AD 238: to ride into Italy as the vanguard of the imperial field
army, daring and spirited fighters as they were. 27 Throughout the rest of the third century,
Rome went on to raise elite cavalry regiments from Germanic tribes, such as the equites
Marcomanni or the alae Alamannorum, Francorum, Iuthungorum, and Vandilorum. 28 All
this points to more than mere reckless attacks: it betokens efficiency that comes from
skillful fighting in formation and shooting well-timed flights of spears.
Roman art sometimes depicts Germanic horsemen bare-chested or with light coats
fluttering from their shoulders. 29 That may have been their true battle dress. Even Rome’s

Wheeling right 131
own early horsemen, the Celeres, fought bare-chested, wearing no more than a loincloth
and sometimes a light coat. 30 Bare-chested horsemen can throw weapons farther than men
burdened by armor, and when attacking or fleeing they can rush faster through enemy
missiles. Light dress also lets warriors quickly get back on their feet if unhorsed, while
armored horsemen, once fallen from their steeds, are helpless and easily finished off. 31
Besides, horsemen free from armor could alight nimbly to fight on foot as horse-stabbers
and then mount again. 32
Hadrian wanted his horsemen to ride in both Germanic-style lancer and spearthrowing
formations. Their spear-throwing attacks, then, must have been nearly as
frightening as their lancer charges. Hadrian even wanted the men to raise their battle cry
in German, as Dacian horsemen were to raise theirs in Dacian, and Raetians in Raetian. 33
The horsemen of the emperor’s guard, recruited in the Roman provinces of Upper and
Lower Germany, Raetia, and Dacia, 34 brought along northern European, Iron Age
fighting styles of a skill and daring that made them the Empire’s best cavalry.
In his army handbook from the end of the sixth century, Maurice still wants the
Byzantine army to train for circling attacks. Yet of the “blond peoples,” the Franks and
Lombards, he says that while they fight very well as horsemen, they scorn the orderliness
of tactical formations during the fray, especially when on horseback. 35 Perhaps Germanic
horsemen had given up circling, preferring the straight attack. Norman knights on the
eleventh-century Bayeux tapestry ride no circling attack, but while some stab or thrust
with their weapons, most are still spear-throwers.

Part 7
FOOT AGAINST HORSE

17
HORSE-STABBERS
The horsemen sent by Caesar…wrought wonders of
bravery. Many slid from their steeds, dove beneath their
foes’ horses, and struck them in the underbelly.
Plutarch, Crassus
Indo-European horse-stabbers
Only the most undaunted foot warrior can face horse-warriors, be they on chariots or
horseback. But foot fought very efficiently as supporters of cavalry or chariotry. Bronze
Age charioteers of the second millennium BC relied on fleet-footed “runners” to back
them in battle and to finish off enemy chariot crews whose vehicles had crashed or whose
horses were wounded. For this task Egyptian Pharaohs hired bare-chested Indo-European
Shardanas, warriors from Sardinia armed with swords and short spears. 1 Later, when
horsemen came to play a role on battlefields, runners armed with swords or short spears
strengthened them to great effect.
Few warriors on foot dared to take on horsemen by themselves, but some did. On a
fifth-century Etruscan stele from Bologna, a tall, altogether naked Celtic swordsman
coolly faces an armored horseman who rushes him and has his horse kick at him. 2
Remarkably, the naked swordsman stands as tall as the rider on horseback, and his
fearless stance makes it clear that this is an even-handed fight with the outcome wide
open. While Celtic and Germanic warriors often were tall, size may have been
particularly helpful to naked swordfighters, giving them speed in the attack and a greater
reach than that of their foes in hand-to-hand fighting. The stele shows that by the fifth
century BC Celtic foot-warriors, wielding straight swords, dared to face enemy horsemen
even in single combat. In the first century BC Diodore still reports that Celtic foot, sword
in hand, daringly met enemy horsemen. 3
For a warrior on foot to take on a horseman openly and evenly was an act of either
great daring or dire need. There was, however, a way to fight a horse-man on somewhat
more even terms: bringing him down by stabbing his steed.
An alabaster urn of the second century BC from Chiusi, now in Florence, portrays a
clash between a horseman and a Celtic foot-warrior, this time with the end in sight. 4 The
long-haired, naked Celt, holding booty in his left, lacks a shield. Sunk on his right knee,
he has dived between the forelegs of the enemy horse and with his straight sword stabs
the steed in the belly. At the same time, the horseman with his lance hits him in the groin.
The Chiusi scene, derived from reliefs depicting third-century battles between Celts and
Greeks, is so striking and specific that it is likely to portray a typical Celtic fighting style.

Ancient Germanic warriors 134
Early Roman horsemen too had to face naked horse-stabbers. Coins of 57 BC, but
harking back to events in earlier centuries, show a helmeted, naked swordsman beneath
the horse of the tribunus militum Manius Fonteius. 5 The enemy, it seems, is a highranking
Gaul, for as with Roman horsemen of the Middle Republic or with naked
berserks, to wear a helmet but no armor was to signal high rank and great daring. 6 Roman
horsemen of the Early and Middle Republic also fought in this style, some of them
alighting from their horses to overcome enemy cavalry. 7
Thucydides in the fifth century BC says of Thracians from north Greece that “they
dashed out against horsemen and then closed ranks again.” In dashing out they may have
attacked the enemy’s horses. Certainly they did so in the fourth century, for silver coins
of 335–315 BC, struck by Patraos, the Paionian vassal of Alexander the Great, show a
bare-chested, kilt-clad Thracian infantryman with a javelin (in other versions with a
curved sword) as he fights against a spear-wielding Paionian horseman and tries to dive
beneath his foe’s steed. 8 Livy too writes about Thracians attacking like this in 171 BC:
“Loudly yelling, and furious like long penned-up wild animals, they ran ahead of all
others up to the Italic horsemen and their lances. They cut the horses’ legs or stabbed
them in the belly.” 9 For stabbing the horses they will have used javelins, for cutting the
horses’ legs, curved swords. Archaeological and literary source bear each other out.
Patraos’ coin as an archaeological source shows the Thracians’ weapons and nakedness;
Livy, as a literary source, reveals their tactics of loudly yelling and running at the foe
ahead of the main body of troops, even without the help of their own horsemen.
Dacian warriors, relatives of the Thracians, also fought as horse-stabbers. The Trajanic
frieze on Constantine’s Arch in Rome highlights a Dacian who dives beneath Trajan’s
horse perhaps to stab it. 10 Since the scene was to broadcast Trajan’s manhood in braving
great risk, horse-stabbers must have been some of the most dreaded foes. Among Indo-
Europeans, horse-stabbing clearly was an old, widely known, and much-feared fighting
technique.
Germanic horse-stabbers in the time of Caesar
Caesar encountered the horse-stabbing warrior style in 55 BC when he led his army
against the Usipi and Tencteri near the mouth of the Moselle river. There, as 800 Usipi
horsemen attacked his vanguard of 5,000 Gallic horse, an astonishing thing happened.
Caesar says of the Usipi:
As was their wont, they alighted from their steeds, stabbed several of our
horses from beneath and sent the rest fleeing in such a fright that they did
not halt until they saw our army. In that skirmish 74 horsemen of ours
were killed, among them high-born, brave Piso of Aquitania whose
grandfather had been king of that nation. 11
Caesar’s report makes it clear how effective such horse-stabbers could be: to the point
that they decided a battle. His account suggests that at the time Gauls no longer fought in
this way. 12

Horse-stabbers 135
Caesar’s encounter with the Usipi horse-stabbers did not end there. The next day,
when the leaders and elders of the Usipi and Tencteri came to him as ambassadors, he
breached the rules of warfare by throwing them in fetters. He then slaughtered their
leaderless people and afterwards offered to let the leaders go—into the hands of waiting,
revenge-seeking Gauls. When the leaders pleaded to stay with him, Caesar agreed and
granted them freedom. They then joined his army, for it was the custom that foes who
asked for mercy to avoid slaughter bound themselves to their conqueror by strong bonds
of obligation, a custom still known to Icelandic sagas. 13 Later that year, Caesar may have
given his Usipi and Tencteri to Crassus to take them along to the Parthian war. 14
Though Plutarch, when he speaks of Crassus’ western horsemen, does not set Germani
off from Gauls and in the Greek manner calls both “Galatae,” 15 he says of them that in
the battle at Carrhae in 53 BC “they wrought wonders of bravery. Many slid from their
steeds, dove beneath their foes’ horses, and struck them in the underbelly. The beasts
jumped with pain, and, dying, trampled riders and foes alike.” 16 The “Galatae” horsemen
are likely to have included Usipi and Tencteri who dived beneath enemy horses at a time
when Gauls no longer fought that way. 17
In the Civil War in 48 BC at Dyrrachium, Caesar’s Germanic foot fought
outstandingly well, counter-attacking against Pompey’s forces so that, alone of his
foreign soldiers, Caesar praised them. 18 Shortly afterwards, at Pharsalus, they won the
day for him. When Pompey’s horse, the flower of Rome’s aristocratic youth, came
around Caesar’s right wing to attack him from behind, Caesar ambushed them with six
cohorts of Germani, his 3,000 most daring foot taken from the third line—that is, from
the reserves. They not only rushed Pompey’s horsemen and sent them fleeing, they went
on to cut down the bowmen and slingers who had come along with the horsemen; then
they took Pompey’s left wing in the rear, beginning the rout of his lines. 19
About this attack Florus says: “the German cohorts attacked the dispersed horsemen as
if they were on horseback and the others on foot.” 20 These cohorts are often mistaken for
legionaries, 21 but the third line was the place to station lightly armed auxilia rather than
legionaries. 22 Caesar himself praises the speed at which the men attacked, and speed is
not a quality of heavily armed legionaries but, in Caesar’s own judgement, of Germanic
foot, and so is their skill in taking on horsemen. 23 Florus, who abridges Livy, likewise
stresses the speed of these troops; he seems to be right, therefore, when he says that they
were Germanic cohorts.
The surprise attack of foot against horse at Pharsalus was a repeat of the battle fought
by the Usipi and Tencteri in 55 BC, only Caesar had modified it by instructing the
warriors to stab the faces of the horsemen rather than their legs and their steeds—aiming
at a foeman’s face being the fiercest form of close-up fighting. 24 As the Thracians did in
171 BC against Italic horsemen, running up to the enemy horse with great speed
forestalled them from mounting a charge. It is one of the rare cases of foot advancing on
horse and driving them off. 25
In AD 15 Arminius and his Cheruscan followers fought the Romans by stabbing their
horses:
Arminius cried “There is Varus with the legions caught again by the same
doom!” and with chosen followers he cut through the Roman column.
They mainly wounded the horses who, slithering in the blood and the

Ancient Germanic warriors 136
slippery mud, threw their riders, pushed everyone aside, and trampled
over those who lay on the ground … Caecina, who upheld the front, fell to
the ground as his horse was stabbed from below. He would have been
surrounded had not the first legion stepped in. 26
Stabbing horses from below is the work of warriors on foot. They could be dismounted
horsemen like the Usipi and Tencteri in 55 BC, or foot trained to run with the horse, as
were Ariovistus’ men in 58 BC and the Alamannic horse-stabbers in AD 357. 27 They
could even be whole units of warriors on foot, as were the Thracians and Caesar’s men at
Pharsalus.
Germanic horse-stabbers on Roman gravestones
On first-century Roman cavalry gravestones from the Rhineland, a naked Germanic
warrior with a straight sword often dives beneath the steed of his foe. As the horseman,
spear in hand, rides over him, the warrior below raises his head between the horse’s legs
and strikes the animal with his sword. 28
On some gravestones the horseman rides over the stabber, looking not at him but straight
ahead at what might come, seemingly heedless of the warrior underneath: scorning him
and the danger he poses, he lets his steed kick the warrior in the head. Such a scene is
shown on the gravestone of Romanius, found at Mainz in Upper Germany (Figure
17.1). 29 The object above the head of Romanius’ foe has been called a shield, 30 but it is
the man’s bent right arm, holding a sword hidden behind his head. The warrior on the
ground is not fallen; rather, he has, of his own will and daring, dived beneath the horse to
stab it from below. What has been overlooked so far is that for the sake of speed and
nimbleness he has forgone the protection of a shield. To guard himself he has wrapped
his coat several times around his left arm. Depicted on gravestones, this is a technique
also known from literary sources as useful in skirmishes against horsemen. 31 In the sixth
century young Heruls likewise fought naked without shields but with coats. They did so
to achieve the famous Herulian battle-speed, and they too are likely to have wrapped their
coat around the left arm for protection. 32

Horse-stabbers 137
Figure 17.1 Horse-stabber underhoof.
Gravestone of Romanius, Mainz.
Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Mainz.
Inv. S 601. Museum photograph.
Another such gravestone, from east of the Rhine, is that of Dolanus (Figure 17.2). The
naked warrior on the ground holds a sword in his right hand, ready to stab the steed, but
Dolanus disregards him and looks straight ahead, no doubt toward a foe on horseback.
Dolanus’ groom, with two spears, stands behind him, looking almost like a small figure

Ancient Germanic warriors 138
on the horse’s back. Two lions growl above the scene. All these are things we will find
again on medieval horse-stabber scenes.
Figure 17.2 Another horse-stabber
underhoof. Gravestone of Dolanus,
Wiesbaden. Wiesbaden, CIL XIII
7585=Schleiermacher,
Reitergrabsteine 1984, 42. Museum
photograph.

Horse-stabbers 139
Greek gravestones, among them the highly visible and often copied Athenian
gravestone of Dexileos of the fourth-century BC, provided the model for the Rhineland
gravestone reliefs. They too portray the enemies naked, which raises the question of how
far the Rhineland gravestones only repeat an artistic convention and how far they truly
portray the fighting of their own time. 33 Three things point to the latter. First, literary
sources report this fighting style in the Rhineland. Second, while Dexileos unrealistically
wears only a shirt, horsemen on Rhenish gravestones wear carefully carved cuirasses of
their time. Third, the coat wrapped around the arm to guard it is a trustworthy detail,
known from other contemporary sources. The realism by which the Rhineland
gravestones transform the original Dexileos model makes it likely that they depict the
naked warrior beneath the horse also realistically and in a way that would convince
onlookers who had seen this kind of fighting. 34
There is more tension in these scenes than has been thought. Greeks and Romans liked
to boast of their steeds trampling enemies, 35 but that is not the only reason for
gravestones to show the warriors underhoof. The naked warriors, by their swords and
fighting poses, suggest that in the mid-first century AD, as in the time of Caesar,
Germanic horse-stabbers posed a serious threat to Roman horsemen. 36
Tacitus in his Germania says about Germanic warriors:
Overall, their strength lies more in their infantry, which is why they fight
in mixed formation. The foot warriors chosen from the young men of the
whole army and placed before the line are so fast they keep up with the
horsemen in battle. Their number is fixed: one hundred from each district,
and so they are called: what at first was a number is now a name and an
honor. 37
Romanius, Dolanus, and other Roman horsemen depicted on their grave-stones as
looking ahead, reveal that the naked horse-stabbers beneath them fought together with
horsemen and thus belong to Tacitus’ chosen youths of the “Hundred.”
Ancient writers marveled at the bravery of horse-stabbers in Crassus’ war. Yet their
fame was to rise still higher. When in AD 70 Roman forces fanned out from Mainz to
reconquer Gaul and Germany west of the Rhine, Vespasian commemorated the campaign
with coins on which he, like the horsemen on Mainz gravestones, rides down an enemy
sword-fighter—a German if one may judge by his six-cornered shield. 38 The image of
Vespasian as a heroic rider who fights a swordsman on foot also stems ultimately from
the Athenian gravestone of Dexileos, but it seems to have reached Vespasian by way of
gravestones from the Rhineland, where the heroic horse-stabber fighting style still lived.
Vespasian, here realistically wielding a shield, may have chosen the scene after illustrated
battle reports from Mainz. His pose became the model for a long series of imperial
triumphal images, 39 almost the only Roman triumphal image in which the enemy truly
fights back. The stout-hearted men who on foot dared to take on horsemen won fame not
only at home but also on Roman gravestones and imperial coins. 40
A third-century image of such a fight is seen on the gravestone of an imperial horse
guardsman in Rome. 41 It portrays a long-haired, bearded, bare-chested, and trousered
Germanic warrior who, while guarding himself with a shield, kneels between the forelegs
of his foe’s cantering steed, trying to strike the beast (Figure 17.3).

Ancient Germanic warriors 140
This is the most even-handed fight of all such scenes known. The warrior on the
ground purposely bends his knee, and the horseman aims his lance at him. The
guardsman may have met such foes in battle and wanted to show on his relief the real
danger and hence the glory of such fights.
Figure 17.3 Kneeling warrior, facing a
horseman of the emperor’s guard.
Gravestone, Rome. CIL VI 32803;
Photograph B.Malter.
On the late second-century Portonaccio sarcophagus from Rome, twelve Germanic
horsemen and four warriors on foot fight the same number of Romans. The Germani on
foot are bare-chested. One is the horse-hewer on the lower right (Figure 18.2); another
lies dead in the mid-foreground; a third, above in the middle, tries to flee together with
three long-sleeved horsemen, all four having thrown away their blades. The fourth barechest
is the horse-stabber on the lower left (Figure 17.4). 42
Peerless in the precision with which it depicts fighting men, the sarcophagus shows
this horse-stabber with his “horned” hairdo as he wields a very short spear, useful for

Horse-stabbers 141
stabbing. 43 He wants to help the warrior above him by getting at the steed of the attacking
Roman horseman but is brushed away
Figure 17.4 Horse-stabber with a
spear. Sarcophagus from Portonaccio,
Rome. Photograph: German
Archaeological Institute, Rome, Inst.
Neg. 61.1399.

Ancient Germanic warriors 142
by the horse’s hoofs. The four bare-chests, lightly clad so they could run with the
horse, are clearly of the honored “Hundred” youths mentioned by Tacitus that are trained
to fight with the horse. 44 The Portonaccio sarcophagus not only confirms Tacitus’
information but also shows that the “Hundred” were bare-chested and had in their ranks
horse-stabbers as well as hewers.
Horse-stabbers in late antiquity
Horse-stabbers are known not only from archaeological finds. 45 Literary sources describe
them both in Caesar’s time and in late antiquity. Heliodore, in his novel Aethiopiaca,
written around AD 250, imagines a battle where heavily mailed Persian catafracts ride a
shock attack against onrushing Blemmye foot:
When the Blemmyes came to blows and were about to be reached by the
oncoming lance points, on a given sign they all together stooped and
dived beneath the horses. One knee propped on the ground, barely
keeping head and back from getting trampled, they did an astonishing
thing: under the bellies as the horses rushed by, they wounded them,
stabbing upwards with their swords. Through this, many horsemen fell to
the ground, for the steeds, in their pain, would scorn the bridle and throw
their riders. As they lay there like logs, the Blemmyes stabbed them in the
thighs. 46
Though he based his account on that of Plutarch, Heliodore added several sharp details of
his own, like the stooping on one knee, as seen on the Chiusi urn, the horse-guard
gravestone and the Portonaccio sarcophagus (Figures 17.3, 17.4). 47 Whether Heliodore
knew this detail from written reports of his own time or saw it on imperial triumphal art,
he singles out this fighting technique as the most astonishing and decisive in his imagined
battle. 48
In the West, in AD 357 at Strassburg, light Alamannic foot-warriors helped the
Alamanni horsemen when they faced iron-clad Roman clibanarii horse. Sneaking
towards the ranks of the Roman horse, the foot-warriors tried to stab the steeds.
Ammianus says of them:
They brought all their best cavalry in close order to the left wing and
scattered between them light, fast infantry, with good reason. For they
knew that even a skilled fighter on horseback, having to hold bridle and
shield, and wielding the lance with but one hand, when meeting a
Clibanarius horseman of ours could not harm the iron-clad warrior.
However, as in the thick of a fight one watches only what comes straight
on, a foot soldier could stealthily crawl up, pierce the side of the horse,
bring the heedless rider down, and then easily kill him. 49
Since Ammianus speaks of clibanarii locked in combat, the horse-stabbers who attacked
them went against the front rank of the foes. To creep deeper into the enemy ranks, where

Horse-stabbers 143
the horsemen’s attention was not so strongly engaged, would have been too risky. Even
so, the heavy armor of the clibanarii, whom Rome brought to the West in the third
century, rendered the task of horse-stabbers harder. Though the weight of the armor made
the horsemen clumsier and thus easier to approach, the horses’ cuirass now reached to
their knees and the riders’ mail to their toes, making it hard to stab or slash them. 50
Nevertheless, at Strassburg Alamanni horsemen with their foot helpers routed the Roman
clibanarii. 51
In AD 363, Julian’s men, many of them from the Rhine, worsted a force of Persian
clibanarii on the banks of the Tigris. Libanius says of them:
The foot warrior dodged the lance of the horseman, ripped the horse open
with his sword, brought both to the ground, and stabbed the iron-clad
rider. 52
The horse-stabber style of diving beneath the enemy’s horse had met the challenge of the
clibanarii: against heavier armor they pitted even stouter hearts. Byzantine foot, often
northerners, fought clibanarii in this way still in the tenth century. 53
While imperial art understandably favored the rider who overcomes all, 54 to Libanius,
as to Heliodore and Plutarch, horse-stabbing was the keenest kind of fighting. Those who
dived beneath horses were, to the ancients, the bravest, the most skillful, and the most
astonishing heroes. They were also forerunners of the heroes of medieval legend.
Horse-stabbers in the Middle Ages
A gold foil from about AD 600 found at Pliezhausen in Alamannia shows a spearwielding
horseman riding over a warrior who stabs his steed from below. Once part of a
warrior’s gear, the foil was later reworked into a disc brooch (Figure 17.5). 55
Beneath two lions that face one another, the horseman rides straight ahead, a shield in
his right hand and a long lance in his left either for throwing or stabbing. 56 The blade of
the lance ends in an eagle’s or a bird-dragon’s head. 57 Dancing on the horse’s back is a
smaller figure, also with a shield and holding on to the lance. Below, gripping the bridle,
the foe rises between the horse’s forelegs and stabs the steed in the chest.
Although made in Alamannia, 58 the Pliezhausen disc was thought to derive from
triumphal images of Roman emperors and Byzantine saints. 59 Yet given the striking
similarity, the Pliezhausen scene certainly stems from Roman gravestones along the
Rhine, many of which in the sixth century still stood on the roads just outside Mainz,
Worms, Wiesbaden, and other towns. 60

Ancient Germanic warriors 144
Figure 17.5 Sixth-century horsestabber.
Disc brooch from Pliezhausen,
Baden-Württemberg.
Wiirttembergisches Landesmuseum,
Stuttgart, inc. 29/173. Drawing by P.
Paulsen after Hauck, “Adelskultur”
1957.
Only gravestones display all elements of the scene: the spear-wielding horseman, the
swordsman underneath, the smaller figure further back “on” the horse, and the lions
above (Figure 17.2). 61 On both kinds of monuments the horseman’s spear points not to
the man on the ground but further ahead. Like Romanius and Dolanus on their
gravestones, the Pliezhausen rider pays no attention to the stabber: he looks straight
ahead toward a foe that is not seen here, but whom other foils show as stabbed by the
lance. 62 Neither the gravestones nor the Pliezhausen foil portray the fight itself, instead
they show the risk the horseman runs.
This image appealed throughout the Germanic world. Metal foils on seventh-century
helmets from Sutton Hoo in Kent and from Vendel and Valsgärde in Uppland, Sweden,
portray the same scene. 63 These foils, too, are modeled after gravestones from the

Horse-stabbers 145
Rhineland or, more likely, after Alamannic metal foils such as the Pliezhausen one. 64
Further proof that the horse-stabber scene originated on the Rhine is the fact that most
variations of it in the Swedish foils are also found on first- to fourth-century Rhenish
gravestones. Thus on bronze foils from Valsgärde, not one but two foes threaten the rider
from below, 65 just like on a gravestone from Worms. 66 Likewise on the Valsgärde foils
(but not on that from Pliezhausen) the horseman’s helper holds his own spear, as on the
gravestones (Figures 17.1, 17.2). On some of the Valsgärde foils, the foe on the ground
does not stab the horse but strikes at it with his sword-arm bent back, 67 again as on the
gravestones. On some foils a groom holds the horse by the bridle as he does on Rhenish
gravestones. 68
Finally, the Pliezhausen scene (aside from the lions) and the Swedish ones are square
like gravestone reliefs, not round like coins, their supposed models. 69 The scenes on the
foils are therefore not of Coptic or Byzantine inspiration, but modeled by sixth-century
Alamannic artists after images on Roman gravestones around Mainz and Wiesbaden. 70
The die with which the Pliezhausen disc was made could well have served for making
helmet foils, as its size (5.5×5.4 cm) is that of helmet-foil images. 71 The round embossed
border was certainly not part of the original design, for, touching the scene at the top, it
leaves a large empty space at the bottom. 72
All three warriors in the scene hold their weapons in their left hand, which suggests
that the design is a mirror image of its original. Scholars therefore thought that the
Pliezhausen scene had been designed for the phalerae discs of a horse harness, where a
left and a right image is required. 73 Yet this is unlikely, for the horse-stabber motif is
known only from helmets, not from phalerae, and has its corresponding mirror-image on
helmets. 74 Moreover, the size of the Pliezhausen scene fits helmet decorations better,
being rather too small for phalerae. 75
The likelihood that the Gutenstein wolf-warrior scenes were also designed for Vendelhelmet
foils and that the horse-stabber image comes from grave-stones along the Rhine
suggests that the system of Vendel-helmet imagery, and indeed some helmets, reached
Sweden from Alamannia. 76 The contacts between heathen Alamannia and the Germanic
north and their shared sixth-and seventh-century heathen culture thus appear in a new
light. Alamannia was a leader among the lands of native Germanic culture that fended off
Christianity, wrote runes, and upheld the worship of Woden. 77
From first-century gravestones at Mainz to the sixth-century Pliezhausen disc, the
horse-stabber scene underwent an astonishingly profound change in meaning with only
the slightest change in design. The Roman horseman, who glories in winning and in
trampling his foe, becomes the Germanic hero, who glories in fearlessness and welcomes
his fate (wyrd), even if it means being felled by the foe below. 78 The change in design,
although small, is significant: on the Roman gravestones, the warrior beneath the horse is
not yet put out of action, but his strike will go amiss; on the Germanic pictures, he has
struck home and the rider must fall. 79
Wearing the dragon helmet, the god who dances on the horse behind the rider is either
Woden himself or one of the Dioscuri in Woden’s role as war dancer. He pushes the
lance, not to save the rider from falling, nor to bring him victory. His role is to egg the
warriors on, to give them vtrtus or fighting madness, and he does this, here as elsewhere,
by dancing the war dance. 80

Ancient Germanic warriors 146
Though he is a tool of fate, the horse-stabber is not an opponent of Woden. Even the
riders would see it that way, for according to Snorri Sturluson the Swedes thought that
Woden “often appeared before great battles, gave victory to some, and bade others to
come to his place. Both fates seemed good to them.” 81 Accordingly, the horse-stabber is
not reviled. 82 He wears the kaftan-like coat of noble warriors, and care is taken to show
him unharmed. 83 Indeed he is neither fallen nor overcome. 84 He bravely fights as an elite
warrior in the horse-stabber style, and his fate is as undecided as that of the rider. He too
is a hero.
The horsemen on Roman gravestones in Mainz were foreigners, 85 the warriors beneath
them Germanic tribesmen. The Alamanni who adopted the horse-stabbing image still
practiced that warrior style in the fourth century at Strassburg, and hence very likely in
the sixth century as well. They may thus have felt akin not only to the horseman but also
to the warrior beneath the horse. For many hundred years those who dived beneath horses
had amazed Greeks and Romans with their daring deed. 86 Surely Germanic warriors
honored them as well.
Reworking the Roman image into a Germanic one, the artist gave the horseman a
heavy lance to be carried on or above the shoulder, unlike the downward-pointing, much
lighter Roman spear. 87 Since this implies a degree of realism—as does the horse’s canter,
unlike the overly heroic Roman gallop—one may infer that during the sixth century elite
warriors still dived beneath enemy horses. By the eleventh-century, when the Norwegian
“Mirror for Kings” warns against wounding horses, stabbing steeds may have been
thought low-class, 88 but in the sixth and seventh centuries Germanic warriors still saw
horse-stabbers as heroes.
Alamannic artists thus transposed Roman gravestone art into a portable medium and
flowing lines, and at the same time changed a Roman image of heroism into a truly
Germanic one. Nearness of these images to real life will have helped. The artistic
achievement matches the transformation, at about the same time, of a Constantinian
victory coin into Woden’s image on Nordic bracteate amulets. 89
We have come to the gate of heroic myth. We dare not enter, for our sources are too
scanty. Still, a glance through the gate, so to speak, makes one wonder why in the North
dragons are so often killed with a sword and from underneath. 90 In the battle at Strassburg
the Alamanni routed the Roman clibanarii and their dragon standards, slaying dragons
like the heroes of Indo-European myth. Doing this with the sword and from below, 91
horse-stabbers may have become the model for Sigmund the dragon-slayer. 92

18
HORSE-HEWERS
With them the horsemen went into battle, to them they
could withdraw, and from them they got help in their
harder tasks.
Caesar, Gallic War
Indo-European horse-hewers
Horse-hewers differed from horse-stabbers in that they used curved weapons. With
curved swords, dirks, or cleavers they hewed at the steeds of horsemen who were caught
up in fighting other men. Herodotus tells of such a fight by Onesilos and his squire during
the Persian War on Cyprus in 498 BC:
Onesilos took his post over against the Persian general Artybios. Now
Artybios rode a horse trained to rear up against foot soldiers. When
Onesilos learned this, he said to his shield bearer, a Carian, well-skilled in
war and full of daring: “I hear that Artybios rides a horse that rears up and
with fore-legs and teeth attacks the man against whom his rider urges him.
Think it over now and tell me whom you want to encounter, the steed or
Artybios himself.” The squire answered: “I am willing, my prince, to do
either or both, whatever you say, but I will tell you what to me seems best
for you. Since you are a prince and a field marshal you ought to face the
prince and field marshal. Leave it to us followers to face the other
followers and the horse. Fear not the horse’s tricks, I promise you it will
not rear up against anyone anymore.” … When Artybios on his horse
charged Onesilos, the latter, as he had agreed with his shield bearer, struck
at the onrushing foe. The horse put his forefeet on Onesilos’ shield, but
the Carian hit it with a curved sword and cut off the horse’s feet. Artybios
the Persian field marshal and his horse fell right there. 1
Thracians, as we have seen, fought with the same technique of using curved swords
against enemy horse. To help a friend in battle by hewing at his foe’s
horse was no doubt a warrior style as old as cavalry itself. It called for awesome skill
and daring since short, inward-curved weapons, though good for horse-hewing, are not
otherwise very useful in battle. 2
Modern onlookers understandably frown upon such cruelty to animals, but Herodotus
makes it clear that the Persian horse, as it kicked and bit, was as frightful an enemy as its
rider and had to be dealt with. A look at Romanius’ horse (Figure 17.1) shows that it too
kicks the warrior underneath in the head.

Ancient Germanic warriors 148
Germanic horse-hewers in antiquity
Germanic forces often fought as foot and horse together. As early as 168 BC, 10,000
Bastarnae horse and as many foot came from the lower Danube as mercenaries to King
Perseus of Macedonia. The foot, we are told, ran as fast as the horse rode, and when a
horseman fell in battle, a footman took his steed. 3
Similarly, in 58 BC, Caesar tells of Germanic horsemen relying on their squires:
This was the kind of fighting for which the Germani had trained. There
were six thousand horsemen who had chosen as many very fast and strong
foot, one each for his own safety. With them they went into battle, to them
they could withdraw, and from them they got help in their harder tasks. If
a rider fell wounded from his horse, they shielded him. For riding farther
or getting away faster, the foot were trained to match the speed of the
horses by holding on to their manes. 4
Caesar found such men useful and hired them against the Gauls. Tacitus adds that each
Germanic clan had a hundred young foot warriors to fight along with the horse. 5 They
could keep up with the horse because it charged, as we have seen, not at a full gallop but
at a canter.
Like Onesilos or the Thracians, these foot warriors among the horse may have wielded
curved swords. In the North, curved blades suitable to cut flesh or tendons with a pulling
stroke are known, it seems, as early as 350 BC: three of them came to light at Hjortspring
in Denmark, with blades 57, 53, and 35 cm long. 6 Unfit for fencing, they must have been
used together with other weapons such as a straight sword, 7 or to help a fully equipped
team mate.
From the first century AD, quite a few Germanic curved swords are known. A coin of
the Hermunduri in Bavaria from the beginning of our era depicts a warrior with two short
curved swords. A similar sword or dirk, made of wood and with a blade about 30 cm
long, came to light in the camp of Drusus the Elder at Oberaden in Westphalia (11–8
BC). 8 Another appears on Caligula’s silver disc from Niederbieber, and a curved weapon
like the one from Oberaden is depicted on a late first-century cavalryman’s grave at
Arlon in Belgium. 9 Curved daggers or swords are portrayed also on a weapon-relief from
the Flavian Armilustrium temple in Rome; 10 captured from Rome’s foes, they too point to
the curved sword as a northern European weapon.
From the Rhine frontier comes the curved sword on Andes’ headstone in Mainz.
Andes’ foe sprawls on the ground, clinging to his weapon (Figure 18.1). 11 With his long,
pointed beard and thick crown of hair, the man is a crack Chattian warrior like those
described in the next chapter. His weapon, being bent rather sharply halfway up the
blade, recalls one of the Hjortspring blades. 12 The long-haired warrior raises his sword
not against Andes himself but, like Onesilos’ Carian, slashes at the feet of Andes’ horse.
He is bare-chested, wearing only tight, ankle-length trousers, allowing him to be quick
and nimble in attacking the enemy’s horse from below.

Horse-hewers 149
Figure 18.1 Long-haired Chattian
warrior with curved sword. Gravestone
of Andes, Mainz. Photograph
Landesmuseum Mainz, S 608.
A curved sword could hew off the leg of a horse, or rip open its side as it rushed by.
Wherever it hit, the sword would deal a wound that brought the rider down. To judge
from their gravestones, Roman horsemen saw horse-stabbers and hewers as dangerous
and took pride in riding over them.
Trajan’s Column shows no foes fighting on horseback and hence no horse-hewers. 13 In
the later second-century, however, the Portonaccio sarcophagus, found in Rome, shows a
horse-hewer: in the exquisitely carved relief he wields a curved sword or cleaver but has
fallen to the ground (Figure 18.2). 14

Ancient Germanic warriors 150
The horse-stabber and hewer are bare-chested so as to be nimble and fast. 15 The horsehewer
does not even have a shield: like horse-stabbers on Rhenish gravestones (Figure
17.1), he has only a thin coat or skin wrapped around his arm to guard him against
blows. 16
Figure 18.2 Horse-hewer with curved
weapon. Sarcophagus from
Portonaccio, Rome. Photo: Deutsches
Archäeologisches Institut Rome, Inst.
Neg. 61.1399.

Horse-hewers 151
Done in the style of the Aurelian Column, the Portonaccio sarcophagus dates to the
last third of the second century. As no wars raged along the Rhine at that time, the relief
must depict a battle against Danubian Germani. 17 This fits well with a find from the
legionary fortress at Enns (Lauriacum) on the Danube, where a miniature curved bronze
sword or cleaver of the late second century has come to light. Only 5 cm long, it looks
much like the weapon on the Portonaccio sarcophagus (Figure 18.2).
Roman soldiers had no weapons of this shape. However, since bronze miniatures are
typically put into graves of Germanic warriors, or worn by their women, the Enns bronze
cleaver very likely betokens the honored weapon of a warrior. 18 Having yielded other
northern warrior gear, such as a bronze guard for a horse’s head, 19 the legionary fortress
of Enns seems to have housed an auxiliary troop of Germanic tribal horse and foot from
beyond the Danube.
The curved “cleavers” of the Portonaccio sarcophagus and the Enns fortress belong to
the Danubian frontier. So does the famous find from Káloz near Intercisa in Pannonia,
where in a second-century twin grave two warriors were buried together with a horse.
The richer warrior owned a shield with a bronze buckle and rim, a straight sword, and a
lance; the poorer one had a shield with an iron buckle, a curved sword, and an ax as
shown in Figure 18.4.
Since bronze-decorated weapons distinguished leaders from followers, 20 the horse
must have belonged to a leader, the curved sword to his squire. Both must have been
killed in the same battle or struck down by the same sickness. 21
Figure 18.3 Miniature bronze weapon
from Enns, Oberösterreich. Found in
1982 by Robert Binder, Parzelle 1132;
R. VII, 1131; inv. 84, 1982; drawing:
Mok, 1996. I owe knowledge of this
piece to my friend Hanns Ubl.

Ancient Germanic warriors 152
Figure 18.4 Weapons of the squire.
Twin grave at Káloz, Hungary.
Drawing after Böhme, Zeugnisse 1975,
181.
The curved sword from Káloz with its iron hilt is 55 cm long, slightly longer than the
wooden sword from Oberaden but shorter than some from Hjortspring. Like the sword on
the Niederbieber disc and those from Hjortspring, the back of the blade is strengthened
and straightens near the tip where it becomes double-edged to make it useful for stabbing
as well. Although it has been said that Germanic mixed horse–foot formations did not
give rise to special weapons, 22 horse-hewers indeed used a special weapon: the curved
sword.

Horse-hewers 153
Herodotus’ story of Onesilos points to the Káloz twin grave as the burial of a lordly
horseman and a squire, who with his curved sword helped his master to fight enemy
horsemen. Germanic horsemen, according to Caesar, usually had squires, but he does not
say whether these fought with swords or spears. 23 The twin grave of Káloz is therefore
particularly welcome as archaeological evidence that squires still used curved swords by
the end of the second century and as confirmation for Caesar’s report about the one-toone
relationship between horseman and squire. 24
According to Tacitus the foot warriors who went along with the horse fought at the
forefront. Very likely they are the naked hewers with curved swords seen beneath Roman
horsemen on their gravestones (Figures 18.1, 18.2). Caesar says that they fought as
squires of individual horsemen. Tacitus must be right when he says that the foot running
with the horse were young, for only the young can keep up with horses at a canter. Their
being young also suggests that the “hundred” runners were squires. Their fighting jointly
with a horseman thus foreshadows the working together of knights and squires during the
Middle Ages. 25

Part 8
OUTSTANDING
WARRIORS

19
LONG-HAIRS
They begin all battles and always fight in front.
Tacitus, Germania
Indo-European long-hairs
One of the warrior’s most striking means to awe his foes was his hair. Long hair alone
did not mark a specific warrior style, for most Indo-European warriors wore long hair,
but hair styles mattered—Celts alone had nine different ones. Indian, Iranian, Greek,
Celtic, Italic and Germanic warriors wore their hair long, and Spartans claimed that long
hair made them more handsome—or more frightening. 1
Shaking one’s long tresses unnerved foes. Thor as well as Indra shook their hair when
angry. Lusitani, who fought the Romans in Spain in the mid-second century BC, “shook
their hair against the enemy.” 2 Of the Alamanni, Ammianus says: “As they raged even
more than usual their flowing hair looked dreadful, and madness shone in their eyes.” 3
Goths, too, shook their hair in defiance, and so did Germanic guardsmen in fourthcentury
Byzantium. 4 Iormunrekkr in the ninth-century Hamðismál shakes his hair as he
grows battle-mad. 5
Well-kempt hair, however, also was an ideal of Indo-European warriors, and, as long
hair might be a bother in battle, many tied up their hair before a fight, a custom best
known, perhaps, from Herodotus’ account of the Spartans at Thermopylae, who, while
waiting for the attack, combed their hair. Tukulti-Ninurta’s berserks bound up their hair;
Thracians bound theirs into a topknot; and mountain Lusitani gathered their hair,
womanish long, on the forehead. 6
Chatti long-hairs
Among the Chatti on the middle Rhine, elite warriors identified themselves by their long
hair. Their hairstyle matters, for it links the evidence in Tacitus’ written account with that
from Roman gravestones in a way that they confirm each other. Reflecting perhaps the
first-hand observations of Pliny the Elder in his Germanic Wars, 7 Tacitus writes as
follows:
A custom, seldom taken up among other Germanic peoples through a
man’s own daring, has among the Chatti become the rule: to let hair and
beard grow long when they have come of age, and not to free the face of

Long-hairs 157
its growth—vowed and pledged to valour—before they have slain an
enemy. Over the blood and spoils they bare the brow. “Now at last,” they
cry, “we have paid the price of birth and shown ourselves worthy of
country and parents.” The coward and the shirker stay unkempt. The
bravest also wear an iron ring (which is considered shameful) like a fetter,
until they free themselves by killing a foe. Many Chatti like this look, and
as their hair turns white, they are a mark of note for friend and foe alike.
They begin all battles and always fight in front, a startling sight, for even
in peace they do not soften their looks. None of them has home, land, or
business of his own. To whatever host they choose to go, they get their
keep from him, wasting the goods of others while despising their own,
until weak old age makes them unfit for such hardy manhood. 8
These words have been misunderstood. Scholars have taken Tacitus’ phrases “to free the
face” and “to bare the brow” to mean cutting off one’s hair. 9 Yet this is not what Tacitus
says. When a Chattian warrior killed a foe, he shed the looks of his face (habitus oris)
and unveiled his forehead (frontem). The habitus oris thus shed was the hair hanging over
the forehead and face, not the full, long hair in the back, nor the beard. By contrast, the
squalor that stayed with one who had yet to slay an enemy consisted of having hair all
over his face. One who had killed a foe thus bared his forehead by binding his combed
hair with a band, as Indo-European and Germanic warriors often did. 10 To keep his stern
warrior look (the habitus of long hair that Chatti warriors liked), a man might let his hair
grow uncut until old age, using a hairband to keep his forehead free. 11
The roof-tile antefixes of the shrine at the fortress of legio XI Claudia in Vindonissa
seem to portray such Chatti warriors. During the legion’s stay at Vindonissa from AD 69
to 101, its main feat was fighting in Domitian’s Chattian war of AD 83. When Domitian
held his triumph, the legion also celebrated, highlighting its deeds on roof tiles at its
headquarters. 12 One of these tiles shows a young man with unkempt hair, untrimmed
beard, and without a hairband, 13 which may portray the hair squalor of a Chatti warrior
who has not yet killed a foe. Another tile from the same shrine depicts an older, bearded,
very long-haired warrior with a hairband, 14 whose hair falls in long tresses down to his
shoulders but whose throat, unlike that of the young warrior on the first tile, is shaved. 15
He may be a long-hair warrior of the Chatti who, having killed a foe, rid himself of
squalor by freeing his forehead with a hairband, while letting the rest of his hair grow
freely.
If the Chatti long-hairs did indeed free their foreheads with the help of hairbands, a
long-standing problem with Tacitus’ passage is solved, for in this way elite warriors with
uncut hair looked different from the unproven and cowards, and the manuscript text
makes sense as it stands. 16 Tacitus, it seems, did not mistake the hairstyle of leading
Chatti for that of unproven warriors, nor did he give in to an overweening wish to make
“sense” of his “ethnographic material”. 17 By setting off the squalor of the unproven
Chattian warrior from that of the freed forehead of his proven counterpart, Tacitus
presents an understandable and meaningful, if curt, account.
Confirmation of this reading comes from Roman military gravestones in the Rhineland
that portray long-haired enemy warriors. Andes’ headstone in Mainz, for instance, shows
a sprawling warrior clinging to a curved sword (see Figure 18.1). 18 Some of the warrior’s

Ancient Germanic warriors 158
hair falls over his forehead, but most of it is gathered on top of his head where it rises
high and then flows backward in a long pony tail. While the band that holds his hair is
hard to see, its place and effect are unmistakable. 19 With his long, pointed beard, daring
the foe to grab it, and with his thick crown of hair, Andes’ foe is a crack warrior like
those described by Tacitus. At the same time he is also one of the lightly clad, daring
horse-hewers we have studied in the previous chapter. 20
The gravestone of Carminius Ingenuus at Worms too depicts a long-haired warrior
(Figure 19.1). 21 Again, the foe on the ground has his hair gathered on top of his head.
Bound with a hairband, it streams in a long tail down his back. Thus bearded and longhaired,
he too may be a Chattian warrior who, having freed his forehead when he first
killed a foe, now lets his hair grow long. A third long-haired tribal warrior rears his head
on a grave monument from Koblenz. 22 He seems to lack a pointed beard, but his hair is
also gathered on top in a pony tail, and, as on other gravestones, his hairband is marked
by a carved line around the head. 23 A fourth such warrior has come to light at Bartringen
in Luxemburg. Like the Koblenz relief, the Bartringen one comes from a large,
sculptured grave monument built for a Roman horseman in the mid-first century AD. It
depicts a bare-chested warrior lying on the ground amid scattered weapons. He has been
called “a dying Gaul,” 24 but he is neither dying nor a Gaul. Gauls by this time had long
been conquered and were subjects, not enemies. The man’s hands are fettered on his
back, and his head is comforted by a woman. 23 On his hip hangs a scabbard, worn on a
strap coming down from his belt; a trustworthy detail, for scabbards hung in this manner
are seen also on other grave monuments and on Trajan’s Column. 26 The find-spot in
Luxemburg is beyond the Chatti frontier, and indeed, there is no telling whether the
prisoner belongs to the Chatti or is from another tribe whose men, as Tacitus says,
followed the Chatti custom. 27 Be that as it may, this and other Germanic warriors seen
with long hair on sundry reliefs from the late first century on the Chatti frontier fit well
with Tacitus’ account of the Chatti, and may be from that state. 28 But not all Chatti
warriors, Tacitus noted, kept their hair long, and indeed some Germani depicted on
gravestones in the region wear their hair short (Figure 17.1).
Grave reliefs carved for the glory of Roman soldiers who overcame tribal warriors had
to tell their tale believably. Standing along the roadways leading out from towns, they
needed to convince onlookers and thus had to depict native warriors somewhat
realistically. 29 They thus constitute independent evidence for Tacitus’ account of the
long-haired Chatti. 30
Warriors world-wide have treated unproven youths as unworthy of honor, 31 a fact that
lends weight to Tacitus’ report of that practice among the Chatti. Such treatment of the
less accomplished, coming from the warriors’ natural desire to be admired and emulated,
goaded the unproven to do all they could to throw off their shame, as did, for example,
young Aztec warriors, forbidden to cut their long nape locks before they overcame a
foe. 32

Long-hairs 159
Figure 19.1 Long-haired tribal warrior.
Gravestone of Carminius Ingenuus,
Worms. Photo: Stadtarchiv Worms,
Neg. M 9179c; CIL XIII, 6233.
Chatti saw themselves as hair-men. Of the two meanings of their name recognized in
modern scholarship, hat-men and hair-men, the latter is more likely to be true, as
gravestones along the frontier show them so strikingly long-haired. 33 If their name does
indeed mean “hair-men,” Tacitus was right to focus on their hairstyle. 34 Though he
followed age-worn ethnographic concepts, 35 he nevertheless reported what was most
striking about them and what mattered most to the men themselves. In the case of the
Chatti it was their long-haired warrior style. 36 That is no less true even if Tacitus focused
on the Chatti because they resembled the idealized type of the Italic farmer-soldier. 37

Ancient Germanic warriors 160
It was a fighting style not only for the Chatti. Other Germani too, Tacitus says,
sometimes adopted Chatti hairstyles. The most famous of these is Civilis, leader of the
Batavian uprising against Rome, who vowed to let his hair grow over his forehead until
he overcame the legions. 38 This is the more understandable, as the Batavi were close
relatives of the Chatti. 39
Suebi tied their hair into a knot at the side or on top of the head. So did Franks, whose
kings in peacetime let their long hair down, parted in the middle, but before going to
battle braided and knotted it on the side of the head. In Danish legend he who unknots his
hair is a fighter no more. 40 When Chatti warriors, freeing their foreheads, bound their hair
with a hairband, they did much the same thing that long-haired warriors did
everywhere. 41 Scholars have often seen long-haired Chatti warriors as forerunners of the
Nordic berserks. 42 Both were attention-getting, professional warriors who began all
battles, which makes such a link indeed likely. To be sure, neither does Tacitus describe
the Chatti as mad fighters, nor are Nordic berserks said to have uncommonly long hair.
However, the fact that some Chatti long-hairs fought naked suggests that they fought like
berserks, madly and without armor.
Tacitus calls the deity to whom the long-hairs are beholden “Virtus.” This may be
Woden, the god of the berserks, for he was the one to give men virtus and battlemadness.
43 Another shared custom of long-hairs and berserks, the wearing of rings,
points in the same direction. It has been overlooked, so far, that Nordic berserks also
wore rings, which they did “so they could strike stronger and cause a bitter wound.” 44
Rings mark a bond, above all that of belonging to a warband. Since in the case of
berserks this is Woden’s warband, the same may be true for long-hairs. 45
World-wide comparisons of primitive warriors and disciplined soldiers suggests that
to fight a war rather than only battles, societies need a well-established government. 46
The Chatti, of whom Tacitus says in so many words that they alone go to war while
others go to battle, should therefore have had a relatively efficient state “government.”
Hence when long-hairs came to other Chatti as guests, they did so not by dint of threat
but, like the comparable Irish fíanna, by acknowledged, and no doubt religiously
underpinned law. 47 Where kings ruled, as in the Nordic Middle Ages, berserks lived as
champions of kings. 48 Among the Chatti, who had no kings, long-hairs would have lived
as guests or retainers of local leaders, who, as the Icelandic Eyrbyggja saga suggests,
were glad for the backing of such men in their never-ending quarrels. 49 The same saga
says that berserks had no property of their own—like Chatti long-hairs.
The looks of Chatti long-hairs told their foes that they faced fierce, strong, and skillful
fighters. Their vaunted hairdo, a sign of battle prowess, struck fear in the enemy’s heart.
Tacitus understood the meaning of warrior styles well when he said that “the first to lose
in all battles are the eyes.” 50
Long-hairs in the Middle Ages
While Rome asked her Germanic warriors to cut their hair, 51 free Germani looked at long
hair as a sign of honor and outstanding warriordom. They wore it so long that for the
battle at Strassburg in AD 357, King Chnodomar of the Alamanni had to wind a round,

Long-hairs 161
gold-embroidered band into his hair. So too did Harald Wartooth, legendary king of
Denmark, and other Viking rulers. 52
Seventh-century Bavarian warrior masks with lined squares above and below the face
may represent long-hair warriors (Figure 11.4). If so, long-hairs were a warrior style like
wolf-warriors shown on similar masks. If it is true that long-hairs continued as berserks,
their style still flourished in the high Middle Ages.
Though different from well-combed long hair, the symbolism of unkempt hair too
lived on into the Middle Ages. In AD 574, 6,000 Saxon warriors vowed not to cut hair or
beard until they avenged themselves on their enemy, the Suebi. 53 Likewise, in the tenth
century, Harold Fairhair was Harold Unkempt until he conquered all of Norway. 54 Long
and unkempt hair marked different warrior styles, yet both can be traced from antiquity to
the Middle Ages.

20
HELMET-WEARERS
A head-guard along the helmet’s roof, with wires wound
round, guarded the outside so that a sword could not harm
him.
Beowulf
Crossband helmets of Trajan’s Column and Vendel helmets
Indo-European battle lords stood out for their bronze or gold helmets. The Vedic Marut
warband wore such helmets, Scythian leaders of the fourth century BC strutted in golden
open-work headgear, and Celtic chieftains likewise wore gold-gleaming helmets. 1 From
Denmark’s Bronze Age warriors, forebears of the Germanic, come the splendid
ceremonial helmets of Viksø with their cast-on crossbands that make them forerunners of
the helmets discussed in this chapter. 2
Little is known, however, of early Germanic helmets. Ancient writers say that some
warriors wore helmets, but aside from two first-century reworked Roman helmets (Figure
14.1), no Germanic helmets from antiquity have come to light yet. 3 Trajan’s Column
makes up for this lack. Four of the “irregulars” in the emperor’s strike force in scene 36
wear helmets of a nonRoman type. Consisting of browband, fore-to-aft band, and ear-toear
band, and held in place by a chin strap, they may be called crossband helmets (Figure
20.1). 4 The angular shape of the bands indicates that they were made of metal.
Unlike other helmets on the Column, those here sit so high on the head that, from
forehead to neck, strands of hair curl out below them. Between the bands, locks of hair
also appear, and since these look much like the hair below the helmet, they seem to be the
wearer’s own hair, not the metal imitation of hair or the wig found on some Roman army
helmets. 5 Half-circle buckles rather than Roman hinges fasten the cheek straps to the
browband. 6 The decorative lines along the edges of the ear-to-ear band are like those on
Swedish Vendel helmets and on Lothair’s crown (Figures 20.2, 20.4). together. 10
Germanic helmets on Trajan’s Column, as well as Vendel helmets, thus are of the
crossband type, 11 and several Vendel helmets share with those of Trajan’s Column the
feature that the spaces between the crossbands are open (Figure 20.2).

Helmet-wearers 163
Figure 20.2 Open Vendel helmet with
a ridge (wale). Grave 6, Valsgärde,
Uppland. Drawing after Böhner,
“Spangenhelme” 1994, fig. 18, no. 5.
See there for further such helmets.
For all that scholars have said, crossband helmets, whether from Trajan’s Column or
Vendel, differ fundamentally from the comb- or ridge-helmets of late-Roman guards, for
there the ridge or “comb” has the structural function of holding together the two iron
halves of the helmet bowl. 12 Crossband helmets, on the other hand, have no bowl, even
when the spaces between the crossbands are closed with decorative metal foils. Their
fore-to-aft band, therefore, does not hold parts of the bowl together. Architecturally,
Germanic crossband helmets, together with Vendel helmets, stand in a native tradition.
They first appear in scene 36 of Trajan’s Column.

Ancient Germanic warriors 164
Though nothing links Constantinian half-bowls with Vendel crossbands, 13 scholars
thought that early medieval Vendel helmets must have evolved from the comb helmets of
Constantine’s time, partly because a gap of almost five hundred years yawns between the
helmets documented on Trajan’s Column and the Vendel finds. It is true that, so far,
crossband helmets from the first centuries of our era are known only from Trajan’s
Column and a gravestone showing Quadi warriors, but none from finds in the ground. 14
Yet since few Germani wore helmets, not many finds are to be expected. Besides, such
gaps in the finds occur elsewhere too: very few late-Roman helmets have come to light
after those of Constantine’s time, and no Carolingian ones. The lack of actual finds, as
with Celtic helmets, proves only that helmets were rare, just as Tacitus says, and they
were rarely buried. Coins of Probus in 278 and of Constantine in 315 seem to portray
Germanic leaders wearing wale-topped crossband helmets. 15
Crossband helmets also differ structurally from late antique and early medieval
Spangenhelme, where instead of two crossbands, several metal strips lead from the
browband to the top and they are riveted together to produce a blow-resistant cover. 16
Crossband helmets come in two varieties: with and without a protective ridge (wale)
over the fore-to-aft band. The helmets on Trajan’s Column have the protective ridge,
which the Beowulf epic calls a wala and we may term “wale.” The epic describes the
function of the wale atop Beowulf’s helmet thus: “A head-guard along the helmet’s roof,
with wires wound round, guarded the outside so that a sword could not harm him
dreadfully should the bold shield-warrior go against his foes.” 17 The function of the wale,
then, was to parry sword blows, as combs did on Hittite and Hallstatt helmets more than a
thousand years earlier. 18 Decorative dragon heads at each end of the wale gave added
magic protection. 19
It has been said that a quick turn of the helmet-wearer’s head, as a sword blow fell,
would take the blow across the wale and thus keep the cap from splitting. 20 It seems,
however, that no such turning was needed to parry a blow, for when warriors fought face
to face and shield to shield, sword blows from an opponent’s right hand naturally hit the
wale at an angle. The wale that absorbed blows to the head was a useful thing indeed, for
the worst slashes of long swords came from above, slicing through the head. 21
The crossband helmets on Trajan’s Column are open between the bands to flaunt the
hair, a warrior’s pride. The wish to show off one’s hair also explains why the helmets sit
so high atop the head—unlike Roman helmets they let the hair curl out from underneath.
Celtic and Germanic leaders seldom wore helmets since they wanted their hair to be seen
and their person to be known. Wanting to be recognized for their deeds in battle, warriors
even took off their helmets in the thick of fighting. 22
The open helmets depicted on Trajan’s Column, with narrow cheek pieces and no
neck guards, cannot have been meant to guard against all dangers, certainly not against
arrows. 23 In a sense, then, they were crowns rather than helmets. They are also much
lighter than Roman helmets, which befits the faster Germanic fighting styles. As during
the migration period Germanic weaponry grew heavier, so crossband helmets became
closed Vendel helmets, even though they kept their crossband structure.
Who were Trajan’s crossband-helmet wearers? So far, scholars have found no means
to identify them. 24 Yet wearing un-Roman helmets while striding to war alongside
barefooted swordsmen and wolf-warriors, they are very likely Germani. 25 All four are
bearded, and like several other Germanic warriors on the Column, two of them have their

Helmet-wearers 165
chin and middle cheeks shaven in the beard style of the fourth-century Welschbillig
herms and “forebears” on the seventh-century Sutton Hoo scepter. 26 All of this suggests
that the helmet wearers on the Column are Germanic lords.
Wearing cuirasses, they are also Roman auxiliaries. Perhaps they are followers of a
warband leader in the service of Rome, 27 for, as with the Vedic Maruts, leaders often
gave their followers weapons and helmets like their own. Archaeological finds have
documented this custom among Germanic warriors as early as AD 200. Frankish princes
equipped their warbands thus in AD 470, and Beowulf’s helm-berend followers all wore
boar helmets like Beowulf’s own. Sixth-century warriors, portrayed on bronze foils from
grave 14 at Vendel, all flaunt eagle helmets, and in AD 1152, when Gregorius Dagsson
came to the Norwegian assembly in a gilded helmet, all his followers were helmeted
too. 28 Members of Germanic warbands thus may have been uniformly equipped as early
as the first century AD.
Literary sources say that few German warriors owned swords or helmets, and
archaeological finds show this was indeed so. 29 The helmet wearers in scene 36 thus
belong to a group of elite warriors. Rulers often sought out high-born followers for their
warband, and athelings sometimes fought in units all of their own. 30
Wearing helmets against sword blows, these warriors meant to go against swordsmen
like themselves. Swords, as we have seen, were the noblest of weapons, held in even
greater honor than spears. 31 A class of high-born swordsmen thus flourished in firstcentury
Germany, as it did in the early Middle Ages: men who stood out for their swordfighting
and showy helmets—a noteworthy new aspect of ancient Germanic society.
Anglo-Saxon battle lords also wore open crossband helmets, known from actual
finds. 32 The finest such helmet, with a separately worked tubular wale ending in animal
heads, comes from Sutton Hoo. Buried about AD 625, it may have been made as early as
AD 500. 33 Other Anglo-Saxon crossband helmets include the seventh-century Coppergate
helmet from York that has a double-raised wale shaped into animal heads at each end, 34
and the Benty Grange helmet that adds some slanted subsidiary strips like those on the
Thorsberg crown to the regular crossband structure (Figure 20.3). 35
Book illustrations such as the Stuttgart Bilderpsalter show that Frankish warriors in
Carolingian times also wore crossband helmets. 36 Wale helmets were weapons of high
standing from Trajan’s Column to Vendel graves, and so they were later still, for
Valhelm and Walahelm are Anglo-Saxon and Old High German warrior names. 37
Once taken as proof of the North’s cultural dependence on Rome, 38 Vendel helmets
thus stand in a native Germanic tradition. Both in design and in prestige as status symbols
for high-ranking followers of kings, 39 they hark back to the helmets in scene 36 of
Trajan’s Column. Germanic warriors wore them for many years thereafter too. As a mark
of high standing, leaders still wore Vendel helmets in the tenth century, in the middle of
the Viking period, when other warriors wore newer, pointed-bowl “Norman” helmets as
in Figure 5.4. 40
Crossband crowns
The helmets on scene 36 of Trajan’s Column look remarkably like medieval and modern
crowns. The earliest known crown of this type is a third-century cap made of gilded silver

Ancient Germanic warriors 166
found at Thorsberg in Schleswig (Figure 20.3). It follows the basic crossband
construction, with browband and fore-to-aft band, but instead of one ear-to-ear band it
has four slanted such bands.
Worn with a face mask like later Vendel helmets, the Thorsberg crown sat as high
atop the head as do the helmets on Trajan’s Column and crowns
Figure 20.3 Silver crown from
Thorsberg, Schleswig. Side view.
Photo: Archäologisches
Landesmuseum, Schloss Gottorf,
Schleswig.
of kings. Its drop-like ornaments show that it was made in free Germany, not in a Roman
province. 41 Being of precious metal, it must have belonged to a prince and served as a
symbol of power. It lacks a separate wale, as do several Vendel helmets and crossband
crowns. 42
The structure of the Thorsberg crown, with its four “ear-to-ear” bands, is similar to
that of the helmets from graves 7 and 8 at Vendel and that of the Benty Grange helmet.
Crowns and helmets with several ear-to-ear bands thus constitute a sub-group of
crossband helmets, linked by their structure to helmets and crowns from the first to the
seventh century.
Vendel helmets and the Thorsberg crown share the same structure because Germanic
crowns were, in fact, golden helmets. 43 Late Roman emperors wore golden helmets in
battle so that their soldiers could recognize them, a custom they adopted in the third
century AD, perhaps from northerners. 44 The kingly tenth-century Viking leader Olaf in

Helmet-wearers 167
the Laxardal saga, upon coming to Ireland, wore a helmet with golden plates, and in AD
1030 King Olaf of Norway wore a golden helmet in the battle at Stiklastad. Snorri
Sturlusson writes that when the king in his golden helmet, together with his best-armed
retainers, sallied out of the shield castle his foes were filled with dread. 45 It was a tactical
move almost like Trajan’s in scene 36 of his Column (Figures 0.2, 1.1), or that reported
by Ammianus Marcellinus for the battle at Strassburg in AD 357: the princes sallying
forth to the decisive attack.
While we have no other early crowns or images of crowns from the North,
Charlemagne in the early ninth century, if one can trust his somewhat damaged lead
seals, wore a crossband crown, just as his soldiers wore cross-band helmets. 46 The crown
of his grandson Lothair I (840–855), well known from a gold medallion (Figure 20.4),
clearly was an open crossband “helmet” with a protective wale. 47
Lothair’s crown resembles the crossband helmets on Trajan’s Column, especially in
the shape of the wale, which grows higher toward the top, but differs in that the ear-to-ear
band reaches only halfway up to the fore-to-aft band, perhaps so that more of the hair
shows. The vanishing ear-to-ear band is of great interest, for it points to the German
imperial crown from which, by the time of Otto the Great (936–962), the ear-to-ear band
has gone altogether. 48 The crown of Konrad II (1024–1039) in Vienna (Figure 20.5)
likewise lacks an ear-to-ear band, but its architecture is clear, as it is made of browband
and fore-to-aft band with a wale. 49 Konrad’s crown, moreover, has hinges on the sides for
cheek pieces, which further points to its origin from a helmet. 50
The crowns of Lothair, Otto, and Konrad, stemming as they do from open crossband
helmets with a wale, thus embody a tradition seen already on Trajan’s Column. 51 Indeed,
it is fair to say that Indo-European golden helmets gave rise, in an unbroken line, to
medieval and modern crowns. 52 Royal crowns today, then, still bespeak battle lords who,
like the helmet-wearers

Ancient Germanic warriors 168
Figure 20.4 Lothair I, wearing an open
crown with a wale. Book cover, British
Library, London. British Museum,
ADD M.S. 37768; Museum
photograph.
in scene 36 on Trajan’s Column, wore striking and daringly open crossband helmets as
they faced their foes. Woden himself was believed to fight in earth’s last battle, at
Ragnarök, wearing his golden helmet. Warrior kings with golden helmets or crowns thus
shared in his ecstasy. 53

Helmet-wearers 169
Figure 20.5 German imperial crown
(AD 1027). Weltliche Schatzkammer,
Hofburg, Wien. Photo:
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Wien,
Neg. III 19.159.

Part 9
WARRIOR STYLES
THROUGH THE AGES

21
IRON AGE WARRIORS AND THE
CIVILIZATIONS OF GREECE AND ROME
Caesar’s foresight was found to counterbalance the
Germani’s fiery spirit and their headlong, reckless attack.
Dio Cassius
Indo-European warfare of the Bronze Age and the Iron Age has not yet been studied as a
whole. Aside from chariotry, relatively little of it is known. There is very early evidence,
however. Natalevka-type stone stelae from around 3000 BC, found in Ukraine, show a
naked berserk warrior as well as clubs, axes, spears, knives, bows, arrows, and horses,
betraying a wealth of fighting techniques. 1 By 1600 BC at the latest, when Aryans came
to India, Indo-European warrior styles were in full swing. Around 1200 BC, at the end of
the Bronze Age in West Asia, berserks decided battles and wolf-warriors ran with war
chariots.
Warbands (Männerbünde) with their own ways of bravery and “willfulness,”
underpinned these warrior styles. Sanskrit svadhā, “inherent power, habitual state,
custom,” is kindred to Greek and English ethos, “character, behavior,” and to Latin
sodales “warband”. Svadhā comes close to our concept of warrior style, referring not
only to “group” and “behavior” but also to weapons that went with these. The Ŗg-Veda
says of Indra’s Marut warband: “They glitter like lightning through the rain, with
weapons befitting their svadhā.” To fight in such style was a ritual, acting out a myth.
Groups of wolf-warriors and berserks had their own weapons, tactics, and war dances.
Svadhd heightened the group’s spirit and made its grim ways less shocking to themselves
and out-siders. 2 Their excesses meant glory: wolf-warriors, berserks, and ghost warriors
no doubt won the “unwilting glory” held out by the Iliad and Rig-Veda 3
By the time of their classical periods, Greeks and Romans had created another ideal:
balanced reasonableness. Seeing themselves as civilized, they saw others as barbarians,
given to wantonness in all ways of life: eating, drinking, bragging, fighting, and fleeing.
Plato and Aristotle thought it unreasonable to gorge on food and drink, an ideal of Indo-
European warriors. 4 They saw the fearlessness of “barbarians,” however great, as
mindlessness and believed that “barbarians,” having little to live for, rushed to their
death. 5 As they perfected the art of disciplined, rational fighting, Greeks and Romans saw
mindlessness as the root of “barbarian” tactics. 6 In the fourth century AD, Ammianus
holds this view of all “barbarians,” especially Africans, while in the sixth century,
Maurice restricts it to the “blond nations.” 7
Yet Greeks too once had ecstatic warriors and only slowly abandoned the wild ways
of “mad-dog” Hector and “wolfish” Achilles. The Iliad tells of an early step down the

Iron age warriors and the civilizations of Greece and Rome 173
path to “civilized” fighting: while Trojan warriors yelled and shouted, Greek battle
groups kept quiet, listening for orders. 8 During the archaic period, as the tactics of heavyarmed
citizen hoplites spread, most Greeks laid aside their weapons to live peacefully in
towns, donning simple dress instead of gold-gleaming Indo-European warrior garb. 9
Spartans so insisted on orderliness that they punished Isadas for fighting naked when he
saved them from a sudden rush of the enemy. 10
Greeks thus turned to well-ordered fighting, and for many years the hoplite array of
the classical period stood unshaken. That changed when Athenians faced backward
Aetolian hillmen who, lacking armor and fighting barefoot on their native ground, sent
the hoplites reeling. 11 Though civic-minded Athenians kept up their prowess in war, they
had seen the limits of orderly tactics. Henceforth, when they needed attack troops, they
hired Aetolian or Thracian tribesmen, whose speed and fierceness mark them as berserklike
warriors. 12
Rome took the same path. Early Romans shared the Bronze Age and Iron Age Indo-
European warrior styles that Italic tribes brought from north of the Alps to the Italian
peninsula around 1000 BC. 13 Wolf-warriors, as we have seen, founded Rome, and in
Hannibal’s time such warriors still went before the legions. Indeed, early Italic warriors
upheld many Indo-European fighting styles: some fought shouting, as half-naked foot and
horse, barefoot, fur-clad, flowing-haired, or in warbands. Some wielded wooden clubs,
firehardened spear-tips, and curved swords, or screeched war songs like flocks of raucous
birds. 14 Harnessing the power of ecstasy, these styles won early Rome her victories. 15
Over time Rome recast her army into more disciplined legions, even though reckless
attack and single combat remained hallmarks of the Roman army down to the time of
Caesar. Gradually, however, Roman soldiers donned uniform (more or less), cut their
hair, and when attacked stood quietly until given the signal. 16 To their field commanders,
the worst faults were now speed and daring. 17 Their animal sympathy shrank to mere
symbolism. “Rome,” as Dumézil puts it, 18 “lost even the memory of those bands of
warriors who sought to be more than human, on whom magico-military initiation was
supposed to confer supernatural powers, and whose likeness was presented, very much
later, by Scandinavia with its berserks and by Ireland with its Fianna.”
Romans, like Greeks, fashioned an ideology to underpin the new tactics. Trusting in
reason, will, and order, 19 they now gaped at Celtic and Germanic madness (vesania,
amentia, iracundia, furor), those fits of reckless rage, that mindless rush to battle. In AD
250, Emperor Decius told his soldiers: “A man trusting in reason is safer than one carried
blindly toward unknown outcomes.” 20
An embossed sword sheath from Windisch in Switzerland shows how Romans looked
at northern warriors and how they hoped to overcome them (Figure 21.1). 21 The scene
shows a giant long-haired warrior who if he stood to his full height would be taller than
the soldier on horseback and might well take him on. Instead, he is speared in the back as
he runs away—the thrust of the spear has thrown him forward and swept the horseman
back-ward. The scene gives one to understand that superior Roman generalship,
discipline, and fully armored staying power have turned the tide of battle, and now, as the
tribesmen flee, helmeted but lightly clad auxiliary lancers in pursuit cut them down.
Theory held that huge bodies were more vulnerable and that reason would overcome
fighting madness. In practice, large bodies were of course an advantage, and as for

Ancient Germanic warriors 174
fighting madness, Greeks and Romans needed it too for steadiness was not enough: the
keenest troops of Alexander and Caesar fought “like beasts.” 22
For a while, relying on discipline and reason brought stunning conquests. Disciplined
Romans overcame the Gauls who had earlier outdone them in the “glory of war.” 23 In the
ensuing peace, however, Romans and Italians
Figure 21.1 Giant warrior overcome
by Roman horseman. Bronze scabbard,
Windisch, Switzerland. Photo:
Kantonsarchäologie Aargau,
Vindonissa Museum.
ceased to be warriors, and their heartland lay open to attack. Tacitus and Ammianus
bewail this in their Histories. Uniformity and superb equipment bought time for Rome;
hiring foreign tribesmen bought still more time. But it was borrowed time and came to an
end. Far-sighted Tacitus saw Roman virtus as so blunted by peace and Empire that he has
someone say “Only foreigners still count in the Roman army.” 24 Trajan’s Column bears
this out when it shows the emperor leading northern wolf- and bear-warriors, berserks,
club-men, and helm-wearers—fierce, frightening figures who bestride the battlefields and
do much of the fighting.
Those who saw Rome’s warrior spirit ebb, pointed to the disappearance of the old and
colorful fighting styles. Romans of the Republic upheld a civic ideal of manhood, but
during the Empire, Romans looked to the north to find the freedom and manhood once
characteristic of Rome and Italy. 25 Writing wistfully of old Italic warrior styles, Vergil

Iron age warriors and the civilizations of Greece and Rome 175
uses images of northern warriors. Silius Italicus echoes him, and Lucanus, in Nero’s time,
looks beyond the Alps for colorful warrior styles. 26
Strabo, in Augustus’ time, observed with insight that the warrior spirit still thrived
among free Germani and island Celts. 27 With Ariovistus in 60 BC, the old styles had
already begun to make headway against the somewhat Romanized Celts in Gaul. 28 When
Ariovistus and his warriors faced Caesar, Dio Cassius has Caesar give a speech that
repeats the time-worn Greek and Roman view of northern warriors: tall, naked, reckless,
loud, unruly, and rash. 29 The description, however, though hackneyed, is in many ways
true.
Using the old fighting styles, and combining a spirit of freedom with culturally
sustained forms of discipline rather than blind obedience, northern warriors held their
own against Rome even at the peak of her power. Tacitus quipped that Germanic freedom
was deadlier to Rome than Persian despotism: Rome had come to see Germanic warriors
as its most fearsome enemies. 30
When Caesar moved the frontier to the Rhine, he began large-scale recruitment of
Germani. As the legions’ role began to shrink, emperors enlisted more and more old-style
northern warriors from beyond the Rhine and Danube. 31 This not only brought about a
resurgence of warrior styles in the imperial army but emperors also came to behave like
Germanic leaders. Trajan “led” wolf-warriors and shirtless, barefoot berserks; Caracalla
caroused with his bodyguard as Germanic chieftains did with their warbands, and he and
Maximinus fought with their own hands and strained to look tall and fierce “like the most
warlike barbarians.” 32 Under Septimius Severus (AD 193–211) warfare again became for
Roman emperors what it had been for leaders in the Bronze Age and Iron Age and what it
would remain for the next thousand years throughout Europe: the all-consuming
occupation of rulers, governments, and ruling classes. 33 The come-back of the old warrior
styles signaled the advent of the Middle Ages, not only in Europe but in Iran and China
as well. 34
Are frenzied warriors not easily overcome by disciplined, well-equipped troops?
Classical Greeks and Romans would have it so, 35 and as late as AD 296 a speaker
praising Constantius, the father of Constantine, claimed that Julius Caesar had had it
good, for all his Roman battle order had to do was best British warriors “used only to
half-naked Picts and Irish as foes.” 36 Seneca similarly held that in their overweening
anger Germani could be beaten even by unwarlike Asiatics; 37 and Constantius II made
light of Julian’s victories over “half-armed Germani.” 38
The rise of Germanic troops in the Roman army, however, proves otherwise. By the
fourth century it reached a high point: Rome’s and Byzantium’s best troops were
Germanic soldiers, using Germanic weapons and tactics. Theodosius’ obelisk in
Byzantium shows that even the role of escorting the emperor at public ceremonies,
formerly belonging to the praetorian guard, fell to long-haired, blond Germanic
guardsmen, with their characteristically broad, inward-curving spear blades and their
golden torc neckbands (Figure 21.2). 39
Germanic warriors rose to the position of Rome’s highest-ranking soldiers not because
they were easily overcome but because they were the keenest fighters to be found. Their
fame was such that, as we have seen, Constantine had himself portrayed as a buckwarrior.
Besides, their ethic was to keep faith with the warband leader—in this case the

Ancient Germanic warriors 176
Roman emperor. Should anything befall him, they would avenge him as berserks, as they
did at the death of Caligula and Julian. 40
The Germanic equivalent of discipline on the battlefield was barritus chanting and
shield-swinging; the equivalent of strategic discipline was (besides tribal coherence)
keeping faith with the “giver of rings.” 41 These were inner bonds that stood up to outer
Roman order and drill and allowed warriors to win against soldiers. Warrior styles were a
mind-set, and Plato, like Herodotus, may have been right to conclude that in war mind-set
matters most. 42
Figure 21.2 Germanic guards of
Theodosius (AD 379–395).
Theodosius’ Obelisk, Byzantium.
Photo: Michael Speidel.

22
END AND AFTERGLOW
If a man goes berserk, he will be punished by the lesser
outlawry.
Grágás Lawbook, “Christian Laws”
Abidingness and end
Over large areas of Europe, Roman influence and then conquest brought an end to the old
warrior styles. Caesar held that the Gauls had become soft through contact with Rome
long before he conquered them. 1 Likewise Roman monuments rarely portray Dacians
fighting in the old styles: at the most they use curved swords, form a double shield wall,
or stab a horse. Living in towns and being subject to kings, Dacians, like Gauls, shed the
old styles through contact with Rome. Not all of Western Europe, however, shut itself off
from the old warrior styles: 2 Island Celts and Germani kept their freedom, their warrior
spirit and their old fighting styles into the early Middle Ages.
On the battlefield the old styles held their own against the Romans. They also lasted so
long because they were bound up with heathen Germanic culture. By steady renewal in
images of mythic beginnings among gods and ancestors, they achieved ecstasy. 3 In many
archaic societies war was the aspect of life that called the most for the presence of gods
and ancestors, 4 and this holds true also for ancient Germani: witness the masked ancestor
dance. Tacitus, noting that Germani “believed the gods to be with those in battle,”
implies that this belief mattered more to ancient Germani than to Romans. 5
As one of the most tradition-bound human pursuits, 6 warfare kept rural, non-literate
European societies like those of the Celts and Germani steadfastly to their old ways. 7
Admittedly, during the long time from 200 BC to AD 1000, warrior styles evolved, for as
society grew more aristocratic and monarchic, hauberks, helmets, and ango-spear came
into wider use, also broadax, throwing-ax, and bow. The aristocratic outlook may also
have caused the weapon dance in the seventh century to be performed dressed and no
longer naked. Changes, though, were never sweeping, and from the third century onwards
the ratio of churls to elite warriors stayed about the same. 8 Early medieval warriors thus
had little reason to abandon the time-honored fighting styles. Besides, warrior items of
“materialized ideology” like ancient, powerful weapons, or splendid Vendel helmets,
strengthened the athelings’ grip on power. 9 Iron Age warfare thus continued without a
break into the early Middle Ages. 10
The coming of Christianity undid the old warrior styles. As native religion gave way
to Christianity, the warrior styles, bound to Woden-worship, were outlawed. For Iceland
we have the wording of that law, as seen in the epigraph to this chapter. Similar laws
were passed in other newly Christianized lands, though among Merovingians,
Christianized early in the sixth century, the changeover took longer—witness the

Ancient Germanic warriors 178
Obrigheim foil (Figure 1.5). In Scandinavia, where Christianity came late, the break was
sharp and sudden: the old styles went out at once. Only at Uppsala, in the far north, did
Woden’s war dance last through most of the eleventh century.
Afterglow
In the high Middle Ages, the knights’ widespread wolf- and bear-sympathy, as seen in the
Hundsgugel (Figure 1.8), are mere shadows of the erstwhile wolf- and bear-warrior
styles. Nevertheless, Icelandic sagas of the fourteenth century still know the wolf-warrior
Guðmund Ulfhedin to be king of the warrior paradise Glaesisvellir. 11 Likewise in the
legend of Woden’s Wild Host, told in mainland Europe until modern times, wolves run
with fallen warriors. 12
Berserk blustering, and vaunting one’s unguarded fearlessness, are still alive when
eighth-century Beowulf throws off helmet, hauberk, and sword as he meets the monster
Grendel. 13 Icelandic sagas and Saxo Grammaticus speak of such diehard berserk habits as
shield-biting and scorning armor. Howling like wolves, unbelievably strong, quickly
flying into a fearsome rage, the steel-proof and fireproof berserks of the sagas represent
sundry elite warrior styles rolled into one. Even as an afterglow of vanished customs, the
berserks of these tales left a deep mark on men’s minds. While Tacitus’ long-hairs exact
from other men food and lodging, the berserks of the sagas lay hands on high-born
women—a harrowing memory of how elite warriors weighed on society.
Humanists of the Renaissance read Tacitus’ tale of fur-clad northern warriors scaring
people in the streets of Rome. When Bartoli’s etchings of Trajan’s Column, published in
1667, brought images of wolf- and bear-warriors and half-naked berserks to the attention
of many, northern patriotism began to idealize the old warrior styles. Wolf-hooded
warriors strut about in J.C. Sang’s copper engraving for Schönaich’s 1753 epic Hermann
oder das befreite Deutschland. A few years later, though, the performance in Leipzig of
J.E.Schlegel’s play Hermann failed to overwhelm Goethe, “notwithstanding the many
animal skins.”
In the mid-eighteenth century the Flemish artist Peter Anton Verschaffelt sculpted a
hooded wolf-warrior as the centerpiece of his allegory The Art of War, still standing
outside the palace at Schwetzingen. On a Dutch engraving of 1783 the national hero
Civilis wears a (winged) wolf-hood. 14 In Switzerland a painting of 1858 shows wolfwarriors
growling among Helvetians as they send Roman prisoners under the yoke. 15
Wolf-warriors also lurk on the walls of Denmark’s Frederiksborg Castle painted after the
fire of 1859. Stockholm and Göteborg have naked-warrior monuments. Never yet
collected or studied systematically, such works of art can be delightfully odd: an iron
sculpture made in 1842 by August Fischer casts its two fighters in patriotically reversed
roles: a Roman on foot fights with a club against a Germanic bear-warrior on
horseback. 16
Perhaps out of embarrassment at animal-hooded and half-naked forebears, the
twentieth century largely overlooked Germanic warrior styles on Trajan’s Column. To us
in the twenty-first century, the old warrior styles are both an anthropological
phenomenon and a part of European antiquity alive until the High Middle Ages. They
appeal, for the human motivations they embodied still live. 17 This study may have shown

End and afterglow 179
that our shared humanity can give us an insider understanding of ancient warriors and
empathy for a bygone style of life.

CONCLUSION
The foregoing chapters reveal that there are rich sources allowing us to trace the history
of Germanic warrior styles. Though some styles are better documented than others, a
coherent picture emerges. Deep-rooted, colorful warrior styles offer insight into the
tactics of ancient warfare, into the frame of mind of the warriors, and into the culture of
heathen Germania.
The warrior styles in turn throw new light on the sources. Our study has shown that,
tied together by the presence of barefooted berserks, scenes 36–42 of Trajan’s Column to
narrate one specific campaign, essential for grasping the historical content of the reliefs.
Depicting Germanic warrior styles known from later centuries, the Column again proves
its historical accuracy. Icelandic sagas, for their part, are now seen to preserve elite
warrior traits of far earlier times.
The continuity of Germanic culture turns out to be stronger than hitherto
acknowledged. On Trajan’s Column as in Icelandic sagas, wolf- and bear-warriors fought
alongside each other. From the first century to the seventh, leaders wore crossband
helmets, barritus chanters swung their shields in unison, and charging lancers bore long
spears on their shoulders. The heroic ideal described in Tacitus’ Germania is the same
still in the tenth-century Battle of Maldon. Contrary to twentieth-century opinion, much
of Germanic antiquity continued without a break into the Middle Ages.
The unity of heathen Germanic culture is also found to be stronger than hitherto
thought. Alamanni, Swedes, and Anglo-Saxons all wore Vendel helmets decorated with
the same heroic images first designed in Alamannia. Southern Germans, like
Scandinavians, fought as ecstatic wolf- and bear-warriors or berserks. Bavarians danced
Woden’s war dance as did Scandinavians and Anglo-Saxons. Migrations, alliances,
warriors seeking employment abroad, high-born women marrying to other courts, trade,
warfare, prisoners, and much else caused North and South to share all the main features
of society, war, religion, language and poetry.
Lastly, the deep Bronze Age and Iron Age tradition of these warrior styles leaps to the
eye. Foot warriors stabbing enemy horses from underneath are known not only among
Alamanni and Swedes but also among Thracians and Celts, and thus are an Indo-
European warrior style like wolf-warriors and ecstatic naked warriors. Claims of Roman
influence—that berserks stem from gladiators, that Woden was a “Randkultur”-Mars, that
Vendel helmets derived from late-Roman guard helmets—are unfounded. Our study has
shown that these things belong to native Germanic and Indo-European tradition.
Whatever progress has been made, much is still to be learned about ancient Germanic
warriors, much that will widen and deepen our understanding of Europe’s older, heathen
culture.

TIMETABLE
3000 BC–800 BC Bronze Age
800 BC–AD 500 Iron Age
800 BC–AD 500 Antiquity
AD 500–AD 1000 Early Middle Ages
2000 BC Dispersal of Indo-Europeans
1600 BC Greeks come to Greece, Aryans to India
1600 BC–1100 BC Mycenaean Period
1000 BC Italic tribes come to Italy
800 BC Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey
753 BC Romulus founds Rome
480 BC Xerxes attacks Greece
336 BC–323 BC Alexander the Great
58 BC Caesar advances the Roman frontier to the Rhine
31 BC–AD 14 Augustus
9 Battle in the Teutoburg Forest; Rome retreats from Germany east of the Rhine
96–117 Trajan
98 Tacitus writes the Germania
c. 200 Alamanni come to southern Germany
306–337 Constantine
355–363 Julian
357 Battle at Strassburg
378 Battle at Adrianople
378–568 Migration period
c. 390 Ammianus publishes his History
400–500 Anglo-Saxons come to Britain
476 Fall of Rome
c. 500 Clovis and the Franks take Gaul, become Christian
520–793 Vendel period
600–700 Alamanni and Anglo-Saxons become Christian
768–814 Charlemagne
793–1066 Viking period

Time table 182
850–930 Iceland discovered, settled
872 Battle of the Hafrsfjord; Norway united
872 Haraldsquiða by Thorbjorn Hornklofi
c. 950 Denmark becomes Christian
c. 1000 Poetic Edda
1000 Norway and the North Sea islands become Christian
1066 Normans conquer England
1070 Heathen shrine at Uppsala closed
1200–1300 Icelandic sagas
1208–1218 Saxo Grammaticus
c. 1220 Prose (Snorra) Edda

NOTES
INTRODUCTION
1 Grönbech, Kultur [1912] 1997, II, 218ff.; Höfler, Geheimbünde 1934, 44ff.; 154ff.; 250ff.;
Hauck, “Lebensnormen” 1955; Hauck, “Polytheismus” 1994, 225; Eliade, Return 1954;
Eliade, Myth 1963, 145; Kershaw, God 2000, 21ff.
2 Stevens, “Gigantomachia,” Poetry 1997, 258; compare Keegan, Mask 1987. Forebears and
those after: Tacitus, Agricola 32.4 (on Britons).
3 War welcome: Herodotus 5.6 (Thracians); Strabo 4.4.2 (Celts); Seneca, Nat. Quaest. 4a.1.2:
“Germanos, avidam bello gentem”; Tacitus, Germania 14: “ingrata genti quies”; Histories
4.16.1: “Laeta bello gens”; Ammianus 16.12.46: “Alamanni bella alacriter ineunt”; Libanios,
Oratio 59, 128 (Franks in the fourth century AD thought that a life lacking deeds was the
greatest grief, while wartime offered the highest happiness); Iordanes, Getica 39 (206):
“Certaminis huius gaudia” (Huns). Davie, Evolution 1929, 147; Turney-High, War 1991,
166ff. Turney-High, War 1991, 144. Wallace-Hadrill, Kingship 1971, 151: War was “a way
of life as much as a means of survival or expansion.” World-wide: Turney-High, War 1991,
141f. Eliade, Return 1954, 29: “War or the duel can in no case be explained through
rationalistic motives”; Steuer, “Kriegswesen” 2001; LeShan, Psychology 1992. War.
Motivations for war: Turney-High, War 1991, 141ff.; Beck, Waffentanz 1968; Haas,
Anthropology 1990, XII.
4 Puhvel, Mythology 1987, 193: “The centrality of the warlike element.” Birkhan, Kelten 1997,
950: “Den Zugang zum ‘Eigentlich Keltischen’ im Heroentum und in der Heldensage
suchen.” Kershaw, God 2000.
5 Work on Indo-European warrior styles: Widengren, Feudalismus 1969; Birkhan, “Germanen”
1970; Blaney, “Berserkr” 1972; Alföldi, Struktur 1974; Crevatin, Ricerche 1979; Ziegler,
Oðin 1985; McCone, “Hund” 1987; Miller, “Hair” 1998; Kershaw, God 2000; for the
valuable studies by Georges Dumézil, Otto Höfler, and Karl Hauck see the bibliography. A
book on Indo-European warrior styles is badly needed. The study of initiation (Blaney,
“Berserkr” 1972, 90–129; Meier, “Initiation” 2000) and the so-called Männerbünde (Bollée,
“Sodalities” 1981; Bremmer, “Suodales” 1982, cf. AE 1996, 39) is beyond our more narrow
military scope, but see now the outstanding work by Kershaw, God 2000. Overlooked: Beck,
Germanen 1998; Schmitt, “Altertumskunde,” 2000.
6 Tacitus mistakenly criticized: see p. 82, note 7; 98, note 4. Trajan’s Column: see notes 14, 19,
21, and p. 7.
7 Bracteates: Hauck, Goldbrakteaten I–IV, 1985–1989; also Hauck, “Polytheismus” 1994, 261.
Names: Grimm, “Bedeutung” 1865; Kaufmann, Personennamen 1968, renewing
Förstemann, Namenbuch 1900; Müller, “Wolfhetan” 1967; Müller, Personennamen 1970;
Reichert, Lexikon 1987 and 1990; Beck, “Personennamen” 1986.
8 Turney-High, War 1991; Haas, Anthropology 1990. Turney-High’s is an outstanding study of
primitive war, far more useful than the dry-as-dust dichotomies of Wright, War 1942; but
while he makes welcome use of Caesar and Tacitus, Turney-High does not consider any
works on these two authors and hence at times mishandles them. Davie, Evolution 1929,
deals with European primitive warfare only second-handedly. Good use of anthropology for
early European warfare: Steuer, “Kriegswesen” 2001.

Notes 184
9 Greeks and Indians separated: Drews, Coming 1988; Drews, End 1993; Kuzmina, “Migration”
2001. Feared: Andreas Heusler in Schramm, Personennamen 1978, 55; Mallory, Search
1989, 110f. Research: Poetry: Schmitt, Dichtung 1967; Dichtersprache 1968;
“Altertumskunde” 2000; sceptical: Humbach, “Dichtersprache” 1967; contra: von See,
Heldendichtung 1978, 2. Ideals: Schramm, Personennamen 1957. Religion, myth: Littleton,
Mythology 1982; Puhvel, Mythology 1987; Drews, Coming 1988, 152; Lincoln, Death 1991,
1–19. Culture: Mallory, Search 1989; Parpola, “Problem” 1995; Schmitt, “Altertumskunde”
2000, 384–402. Institutions: Deger-Jalkotzy, E-QE-TA, 1978. Lively: Mallory and Adams,
Encyclopedia 1997. Dumézil, Eliade: see bibliography.
10 Linked: Littleton, Mythology 1982, 227ff.; Schmitt, “Altertumskunde” 2000, 399. Germanic
culture of the early Middle Ages may have kept Indo-European ways longest and most
authentic (or archaic): Russell, Germanization 1994, 118.
11 In tracing these styles from antiquity into the Middle Ages, one may use evidence from both
periods: early medieval data explain those from antiquity, and vice versa. A similar use of
sources in studying the Celts: Stancliffe, “Kings” 1980, 80.
12 The best plates of the Column by far are those of Cichorius, Reliefs 1896. Figures 1.1, 5.1,
14.1 and 20.1, likewise made from nineteenth-century casts, show some features not visible
on Cichorius’ plates. Even outstanding recent color plates such as those in Settis, Colonna
1988, are often inferior, for the Column is now wasting away in traffic fumes.
13 Strategy and the thrust of the Column suggest that the battles in scenes 37 and 38 occurred
after Trajan and his troops arrived (Gauer, Untersuchungen 1977, 68, contra: Strobel,
Dakerkriege 1984, 181). Trajan’s presence in scenes 36 and 39 implies his being nearby in
scenes 37 and 38. Adamklissi: Vulpe, Studia 1976, 199–265; Strobel, Dakerkriege 1984,
177ff.; doubted by Lepper and Frere, Column 1988, 86ff.
14 Equites Singulares Augusti: Strobel, Dakerkriege 1984, 244; Speidel, Denkmäler 1994, 417;
Riding 1994, 44f.; 116ff. Horses spelled: Cichorius, failing to see the realism here,
demanded of the cavalry that “in Wahrheit hätte sie aufsitzen müssen” (Reliefs 1898, 177).
Lehmann-Hartleben, Trajanssäule 1926, 71, never tiring of “artistic reasons,” suggested that
the horsemen walk to leave space for depicting the foot above them.
15 Richmond, Army 1982, 20 noticed the man in the sleeveless shirt (“kilt-wearer”). Lepper and
Frere, Column 1988, 84 find nothing worth commenting on in scene 36 but the “pendants
dangling from the bridle of the emperor’s horse”—only that the pendants do not dangle from
the bridle.
16 Figures 0.2, 5.2, 5.3. Patsch, Kampf 1937, 66–70; cf. Strobel, Dakerkriege 1984, 177f.;
Lepper and Frere, Column 1988, 86ff. Contra: Bennett, Trajan 1997, 93.
17 Greater accuracy in scene 36: Lehmann-Hartleben, Trajamsäule 1926, 16, 20; Cichorius,
Reliefs 1898, 196; Gauer, Untersuchungen 1977, 111. Scene 43 is back to normal: it shows
only auxiliary cohorts. Accuracy in historical events: Cichorius, Reliefs II 1896, 117 (trust);
Lehmann-Hartleben, Trajanssäule 1926, 64 (artistic reasons); Hamberg, Studies 1945, 109;
Speidel, Studiey I 1984, 369–377 and 412. Laubscher, Galeriusbogen 1975, 129 may be
right in that the showing of Decebalus’ head in scene 147 is not a formal adlocutio as I had
suggested, yet it had the same function, see Gauer, Untersuchungen 1977, 104, note 246.
Lepper and Frere, Column 1988, 177 flounder on this.
18 Mistakes: In scene 50 a (much-eclipsed) standard-bearer wears strip armor when he should
wear a mailshirt. Legionaries: The metopes of Adamklissi prove that some Trajanic
legionaries wore mail; Bishop and Coulston, Equipment 1993, 85. Dacians: Dion
Chrysostomus, Orations 12.19. A few Dacians—in distress—are seen on horse-back in
scene 31, others in flight in scene 144.
19 Accuracy in this sense is widely admitted: Cichorius, Reliefs II 1896, 191. Mauri: ibid.
294ff.; Hamberg, “Germanen” 1936, 49; Richmond, 1982; Campbell, Emperor 1984, 146ff.;
Speidel, Studies I 1984, 129 and 140f.; Waurick, “Rüstung” 1989. Sarmatians: Altheim,
Niedergang I, 1952, 280; Gamber, “Waffen” 1964. Lepper and Frere, Column 1988, 19ff.

Notes 185
and 299 admit accuracy in general, but p. 80 assert that “common sense would suggest”
Sarmatian catafracts had legs free from armor, which is refuted by the famous Dura-Europos
catafract graffito; the measure of correctness and mistakes in representing the Sarmatians is
well taken by Gamber, “Waffen” 1964, 24f. Bishop and Coulston, Equipment 1993, 21f.,
though wary of sculptors’ mistakes, yet single out “presence and equipment of certain
irregular troop types” as valuable information given by the Column. Contra Timpe,
“Begriffsbildung” 1999, 32: “das weithin erfahrungsresistente Barbarenbild.”
20 Saxo 214ff. Stereotypes: Rehm, Bild 1932, 88f.; tall, etc.: below, p. 88; eager: CIL VI, 40524
(AD 135) and above, note 3. Literary commonplaces reflecting the truth: Ammianus 23.6.30
“ut scriptores antiqui docent nosque vidimus”; Norden, Urgeschichte 1974, XII. Contra: von
See, “Germane” 1981. Northern stereotype: Norden, Urgeschichte 1974, 105–115; Mattern,
Rome 1999, 66–80. Myth as reality: Mattern, Rome 1999, 222. Rome using troops in the
northern stereotype: Dio 38.45.4–5. Hadrian even made his Germanic guardsmen pray to the
gods whom Plato believed to be those of the Naturvölker (Cratylus 397d): Speidel,
Denkmäler 1994, 25 (Sol, Luna, Caelum, Terra, Mare). Fake prisoners of war, dressed up to
look like the stereotype: Suetonius, Caligula 47; Tacitus, Agricola 39.
21 Hexagonal shields: Lepper and Frere, Column 1988, 267. Oval: Schleiermacher,
Reitergrabsteine 1984, nos. 4; 5; 9; 12; 15; 17; 18; 20; etc., and even more so in the century
of Trajan’s Column, and with the horsemen around the emperor: Speidel, Denkmäler 1994,
9. Gravestones close to reality: Adler, Studien 1993, 240.
22 Singulares: Speidel, Riding 1994, 39; 109ff. Tacitus, Germania 29: Batavi “virtute
praecipui.” Alae: Vegetius 1.5; Speidel, Studies II 1992, 243. Alae in Trajan’s army: Strobel,
Dakerkriege 1984, 106ff.
23 Regulars and irregulars: Alföldy, Hilfstruppen 1968, 81ff. Cohorts: Cichorius, Reliefs 1896,
178f. Gauer, Untersuchungen 1977, 59 sees in scene 36 “Praetorianer oder Legionäre in
Etappenuniform (Eilmarsch!),” but “Etappenuniform” (whatever that is) does not go with
sword in hand. Germanic pelt-wearers: Tacitus, Histories, 2.88: “ipsi tergis ferarum et
ingentibus telis horrentes.” Germani: e.g. Tacitus, Agricola, 36; cf. 11.3 (not Gauls);
Histories 2.32.5. Helmets: see pp. 181ff. The fallen: CIL III, 14214; Strobel, Dakerkriege
1984, 121, 237ff.; Strobel, “Anmerkungen” 1987, has also cohors IX Batavorum there, but
that unit seems to have stayed in Britain until AD 105, see Birley, Garrison 2002, 65. For
cohorts I and II Batavorum milliariae see now Roxan, “Diploma” 1997, 168.
24 Erdrich, “Rom” 1996, 130–132; Enkevort and Zee, “Militaria” 1999, 200; Chauci and
Chassuarii: Tacitus, Annals 1.60; 2.17; cf. Alföldy, Hilfstruppen 1968, 77ff. Names after
tribes: Speidel, Studies I, 1984, 712; Speidel, Denkmäler 1994, p. 49.
25 Cf. Alföldi, Weltkrise 1967, 397ff. Native weapons: Richmond, Army 1982, 20, referring to
cohors I Aelia Dacorum in Britain (RIB 1914) that used its curved Dacian swords there.
26 See p. 43, and also for “Berserkir” meaning bear-warriors.
27 Caesar, Gallic War 4.1.10; 6.21.5; Tacitus, Germania 6: “nudi aut sagulo leves,” cf. 20; 24;
Histories 2.22: “nudis corporibus” (for the term “cohortes” in Tacitus see Kraft, Alen 1951,
38; Callies, “Truppen” 1965, 151f.); Alföldy, Hilfstruppen 1968, 79. Paulus Diaconus,
Historia Langobardorum 1.20. Strangely, Cichorius, Reliefs 1896, 177, says the irregulars
are not Germanic; Wolters, “Kampf” 2000, 212, doubts Germanic bare-chested warriors
fighting in the later first century altogether—but why reject the testimony of Tacitus and the
whole, vast pictorial record?
28 Buri ambassador: Dio 68.8, see scenes 9 and 27 and my paper “Trajan’s Buri Allies,” 2004.
See p. 60f, this volume.
29 For example, Caesar, Gallic War 7.13.1; 7.65.4; 7.67.5; 7.702ff.; 7.80.6; 8.10.4; 8.13.2; Civil
War 1.83.5; 3.4.3; African War 19.2ff. Tacitus, Histories 2,17,2; 2,22,1 2,88; Annals 1.56.1;
4.73.2; Florus 2.13.48; Herodian 7.8.10; 8.1.3; 8.4.3; Panegyrici Latini 8.12 and 16;
Ammianus 20.4.4; Historia Augusta, Maximini duo 24.5; Triginta tyr. 6.2; Claudian, In
Gildonem, Carmen 15, 371ff. Bang, Germanen 1906, 29; Alföldy, Hilfstruppen 1968, 77;

Notes 186
MacMullen, Responses 1976, 186; Speidel, Studies I 1984, 211ff. In AD 306 Constantius
had Alamanni in his comitatus: Epitoma De Caesaribus 41.3; Speidel, Auxilia 1996, 165f.
Other irregulars in Roman field armies: Josephus, Jewish War 3.126, cf. 5.49; Hyginus 2 and
19, etc.
30 Cheesman, Auxilia 1914, 131; Schumacher and Klumbach, Germanendarstellungen 1935, 8,
no. 32: “Germanische Hilfstruppen auf dem Vormarsch”; Gostar, “Numerus” 1972, 246f.;
Strobel, Dakerkriege 1984, 177ff. Scene 24: Cichorius, Reliefs 1896, 177. By contrast,
Cichorius, Reliefs 1986, 178 takes the auxiliary cohorts in scene 36 to be of the Lower
Moesian army since he (ibid. 190) wants them to fight in scene 38 far from Trajan,
somewhere north of the Danube, a view by and large rejected (Petersen, Kriege 1899, 50ff.;
Strobel, Dakerkriege 1984, 182).
31 See pp. 103ff.
32 Fastest: Caesar, Gallic War 8.36: “Germanosque pedites, summae velocitatis homines”; ibid.
46.2 “pedum…pernicitate gaudent.” Tacitus, Germania 6: “apta et congruente ad equestrem
pugnam velocitate peditum.” Ammianus 29.6.1 (Quadi): “perceleri procinctu.” Two hundred
years later, the Salian Law (long prologue) still states: “Gens Francorum…velox.” Iordanes,
Getica 117, shows how much the speed of a tribe mattered in being hired. Alföldy,
Hilfstruppen 1968, 147: “Irreguläre Aufgebote waren oft mit Aufgaben betraut, die schnell
durchzuführen waren.” Keenest: Seneca, De ira 1.11.3: “Germanis quid est animosius? Quid
ad incursum acrius?”; Josephus, Antiquities 19.1.15 (122); Tacitus, Germania 4: “Corpora
tantum ad impetum valida”; Tacitus, Annals 4.47: “Sugambra cohors, prompta ad pericula”;
Histories 2.21: “Suebi—in prima acie versabantur.” Appian 4.1.3; Herodian 8.1.3;
Ammianus 16.12.46. Tribal troops were attack forces in 53 BC (Caesar, Alexandrian War
29f.), in AD 238 (Herodian 7.8.10; 8.1.3; 8.4.3), as well as in the fourth- and in the sixthcentury
imperial army (Claudianus 26, 580ff; Maurice, Strategikon 2.6.34f.; 11.3.10).
Germanic troops equipped for the attack: Beck, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 473. Skillful: Caesar,
Gallic War 1.36; 1.39: “incredibili virtute atque exercitatione in armis”; 4.1: “cotidiana
exercitatione”. Velleius 2.109; 2.118: “versutissimi”; Tacitus, Annals 11.16 (on King
Italicus): “armis equisque in patrium nostrumque morem exercitatus”; Ammianus 16.12.37:
“peritissimi bellatores.” Miltner, “Waffenübung” 1954.
33 Huge and frightful: see p. 88; dread: Tacitus, Histories 2.32 “Germanos quod genus militum
apud hostes atrocissimum sit…ne vultum quidem atque aciem oculorum dicebant ferre
potuisse”; 2.76.1: “Transrhenanas gentes quarum terrore fractae populi Romani vires”; 2.88;
Herodian 7.1.12; Eunapius VI, frg. 37 (Blockley); Zosimus 3.7.1; see Figures 7.1, 7.2, 21.1.
34 Legions slower than auxilia: Tacitus, Histories 2.11: “tarditas inerat. Agmen legionum alae
cohortesque praeveniebant.”
35 Batavi and tribesmen: Tacitus, Annals 4.73: “alam Canninefatem et quot peditum
Germanorum inter nostros merebat circumgredi terga hostium iubet,” see Alföldy,
Hilfstruppen 1968, 147: “teilweise wohl irreguläre Aufgebote”; Tacitus, Histories 1.59; 2.17;
2.22; 2.27f.; 2.32.1; 2.35; 2.43; 2.88, etc.; Trajan’s Column, scene 70. Chatti: Tacitus,
Annals 12.27.2–28; Lucanus: Pharsalia 1, 430–484. Batavi brigaded with gentiles tribesmen
still appear in the Notitia Dignitatum (Oc. 42.34) but there the Batavi are laeti, that is
themselves prisoners of war, probably Franks who had settled in Batavian lands.
36 Speidel, Riding 1994, 22.
37 Crack troops: Tacitus, Histories 2.32.1: “Germanos, quod genus militum apud hostes
atrocissimum sit.” Claim: Tacitus, Annals 3.40.3: “Nihil validum in exercitibus nisi quod
externum.” Peace: Tacitus, Agricola 11; Histories 2.17: “longa pax ad omne servitium
fregerat faciles occupantibus” Vegetins 1.28.6; Demandt, Spätantike 1989, 265ff. Tribal: e.g.
Claudian, 5.106ff.; 15.371ff.; 20.518ff.; 21.152ff.; 28.218ff.
38 Loyalty: Caesar, African War 19; 29; 40. They switched sides only when hope had left, ibid.
53. Suetonius, Galba 43; Tacitus, Annals 13.54, cf. Julian, Misopogon 360C; Maurice,
Strategikon 11.3.16. Wenskus, “Diskussion” 1992. Roman officers: Trajan’s Column, scene

Notes 187
70, see p. 89f. Ethos: Compare Tacitus, Histories 2.66: “Batavis… quos Vitellius agmini suo
iungi ut fidos…iubet.” A more regular strike force of auxilia in AD 70 was that of the Cn.
Domitii Lucanus and Tullus, Alföldy, Hilfstruppen 1968, 131ff. Mixed, hence harder to
discipline: Wenskus, Stammesbildung 1961, 367f. Pride: Tacitus, Histories 2.11 (on the 14th
legion): “Addiderat gloriam Nero eligendo ut potissimos, unde longa illis erga Neronem
fides et erecta in Othonem studia.”
39 Caracalla: Dio 78.5; Speidel, Denkmäler 1994, 414. Aurelian: Dexippus, Scythica, FGH II.A,
no. 100, frag. 7. Constantine: Hoffmann, Bewegungsheer I 1969, 279ff. Theodosius:
Panegyrici Latini 2.32.4f.; AE 1990, 881. Harald: see p. 75.
40 Taking tribal troops along: cf. Tacitus, Histories 1.61 (Germanorum auxilia) and 3.21.2
(Suebi) in AD 69. Speidel, Studies I 1984, 256f.; Studies II 1992, 222. Chatti, Mattiaci:
Tacitus, Germania 29–31. The “copiae barbarorum” to join the usurper Saturninus in AD 88
(Suetonius, Domitian, 6) very likely were Chatti: Mommsen, Geschichte 5, 1886, 137. The
troops could have come from as far away as the Baltic, see Böhme in Geuenich, Franken
1998, 33f. Overlooked: Bang, Germanen 1906; Callies, “Truppen” 1965; Alföldy,
Hilfstruppen 1968; Goldsworthy, Army 1996, 49.
1
WOLVES
1 Plato, Politeia 620; today: Kellert and Wilson, Biophilia 1993. Cave des Trois Frères in
southern France; Höfler, Geheimbünde 1934, 65; Höfler, Siegfried 1961, 32; Kühn,
Felsbilder 1952, 12ff. Cf. Unruh, “Wargus” 1954, 20; Clark and Piggott, Societies 1966, 94f.
(identify); Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 27; Street, “Haushunde” 1999, 24f. Lion-headed figure:
Cunliffe, Prehistory 1994, 50f. Predators: Wilson, in Kellert and Wilson, Biophilia 1993.
2 Mountains, rivers: Book of Songs, poem 263; Ammianus 31.8.5. Trees: Corippus, Iust.
3.172ff.; Atlamál 30: “borr scialdar”; Fáfnismál 36: hildimeiðr; for -viðr see Beck in Hauck,
“Brakteat” 2000, 38; Exeter Book 487: “wer-beamas” (Hauck, “Herrschaftszeichen” 1954,
52); Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla, Óláfs saga Helga 50; 227. Birds: Widengren,
Feudalismus 1969, 150ff. and fig. 19 (Bactria); Birkhan, Kelten 1997, 1047ff.; Aztec eagle
warriors: Hassig, Warfare 1988, 45ff.
3 Animals: Bowra, Poetry 1952, 97. Africans: Herodotus 7.69. Aztecs: Hassig, Warfare 1988,
90: “Some helmets, made of wood and bone, were highly decorated with feathers, while
others were made of the heads of wild animals—wolves, jaguars, and pumas—over a frame
of wood or over quilted cotton, with the wearer gazing out from the animal’s open jaw”;
Salmoral, America 1990, 192–207; jaguar-warriors are known as early as Olmec times:
Hassig, War 1992, 16f., note 37. Caribs: Whitehead, “Warfare” 1990, 152; Chinese: Book of
Songs, poem 263. Indo-Europeans: Dumézil, Destiny 1970, 139–147. Rome’s Germanic
“lion” and “panther” guards: Speidel, Denkmäler 1994, 414; lion and panther known in the
second-century among Germani: Werner, Zierscheiben 1941. Austria: see p. 42.
4 Ehrenreich, Blood Rites 1997.
5 Identities: Eliade, Shamanism 1964, 385; Müller, Personennamen 1970, 201; Dumézil,
Destiny 1970, 139–147. Homer: Strasburger, “Aspekt” 1978, 100f. Celts: Evans, Lords
1997, 62. Appian, Civil War 2.151, 632: . Jews did likewise:
Josephus, Jewish War 5.85. Keep former ways: Wright, War 1942.
6 Turks, Mongols: Altheim, Niedergang I 1952, 118; Eisler, Man 1952, 132–144; Alföldi,
Struktur 1974, 69ff. and passim. Contact maintained between Asia and America after 11000
BC: Lévi-Strauss, Tropiques 1977, 281. Wolf (dog) forefather: Thompson, Tales 1929,
167ff. and 347; Koppers, “Hund” 1930; Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 69ff. Warrior myths brought
from Siberia: Dumézil, Destiny 1970, 151ff. Amerindian animal-warriors: McCone, “Hund”

Notes 188
1987, 115; Catlin, Letters 1973, I, e.g. figs. 56, 102; Tlingit masked warrior helmets: Siebert
and Forman, Art 1967; Aztec big-cat warriors: Whitehead, “Warfare” 1990.
7 Turney-High, War 1991, 108f.
8 Indo-Europeans as wolf-warriors: Lincoln, Death 1991, 147–166. Wear the skin: Eliade,
Shamanism 1976, 459f.; Güntert, Geschichten 1912, 20; Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 32f.
Cuetlachtli: Lienzo de Tlaxcala after Innes, Conquistadors 1969, 185 (James Lockhart of
Frazier Park, California, kindly identified the warrior); cf. Catlin, Letters 1973, I, fig. 19-
Folk tales in America: Thompson, Tales 1929, 168 and 347; Europe: Volsung Saga; Grimm,
“Bedeutung” 1865, 213; Höfler, Geheimbünde 1934, 320. Cf. Dronke, Edda 1997, 258;
285f.
9 Wolf-warriors howling: Volsung saga 8; Saxo 115.7f.: “Ululantium more luporum, horrisonas
dedere voces.” Berserks of the sagas, being in part wolf-warriors, also howl: Grettis saga 19;
see p. 44. Howl at a kill: Heinrich, Ravens 1989, 55; rid of human constraints: Lincoln,
Death 1991, 138–146. Shamans: Müller, Personennamen 1970, 200f.; Alföldi, Struktur
1974, 27ff.; Eliade, Shamanism 1976, 385; 459f.; Dumézil, Destiny 1970, 147 (a delightful
hooded shaman: Kühn, Felsbilder 1952, plate 103). North American Indian warriors were
wolves or bears in this sense, e.g. Catlin, Letters 1973, II, 24.
10 McCone, “Hund” 1987; Höfler, Schriften 1992, 42ff.; Beck, “Personennamen” 1986, 304;
Kershaw, God 2000. Eyes: Grimm, “Bedeutung” 1865, 222, and p. 69f, this volume.
11 Lopez, Wolves 1978, 282.
12 Dolon: Iliad 10, 314ff. Euripides, Rhesus, 208–215; Gernet, “Dolon” 1936; Jeanmaire,
Couroi 1939, 400 unplausibly suggests a white wolf-pelt. A wolf-hood made Athena
invisible: Iliad 5, 484f. Greeks, Etruscans, Gauls: Gernet, “Dolon” 1936, 201f.; Alföldi,
Struktur 1974, 83. The Sioux too sought stealth by creeping clad in a wolfskin: Catlin,
Letters 1973, I, 254.
13 Younger men: Polybius 6.22.3; Alföldi, Struktur 1974; McCone, “Hund” 1987. Germanic
myths of heroic wolf-youths: Volsung saga; Hauck, “Bilddenkmäler” 1976, 591. For Apollo
Lykeios leading the education of the young (whence Lyceum) see Höfler, Geheimbünde
1934, 158; Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 131f.; Gershenson, Apollo 1991; cf. Scheibelreiter,
Tiernamen 1976, 54f.
14 Hattusilis: Kershaw, God2000, 176. Engage feelings: Alföldi, Struktur 1974, passim;
Steinhart, Company 1995, 345; Rheinheimer, “Wolf” 1994. Eisler, Man 1952, 132ff. gives a
long list of nations named after wolves. Dogs: Pliny, Natural History 8, 142ff.; human
children: Singh and Zingg, Wolf-Children 1942 3ff., with photographic documentation.
Feelings: Kellert, Kinship 1997, 152.
15 Eisler, Man 1952, 132ff.; Eliade, Zalmoxis 1970, 13–30 (diminished somewhat for the
Dacians by Iliescu, “Männerbund” 1983); McCone, “Hund” 1987; Davidson, Myths 1988,
78ff.; Mallory and Adams, Encyclopedia 1997, 647f.; Enright, “Warband” 1998, 312; 329;
Kershaw, God 2000. Greek and Italic tribes: Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 119ff.; Persians:
Ammianus 19.1.3; Celts: Diodore 5.30.2f.; Birkhan, Kelten 1997, 735ff; 954f; 1049. Indians
with horse-hoods: Herodotus 7.70; Widengren, Feudalismus 1969, 150f.; Alföldi, Struktur
1974, 96 (Gandharva). Hittites: Kershaw, God 2000, 149ff; 176ff. “Lupakku”: Eisler, Man
1952, 144. Names: Scheibelreiter, Tiernamen 1976, 56. Dog outside: Eisler, Man 1952,
132ff.
16 Rudra: De Vries, Religionsgeschichte II 1957, 95f.; Gonda, Religionen 1982, 85ff.; Kershaw,
God 2000. Iran: Wikander, Männerbund 1938, 64ff.; Widengren, Feudalismus 1969, 15f;
19f. The Sanskrit name Vŗkājina, “Wolfskin” (Pāņini 6.2.165) is the exact equivalent of Old
Norse Ulfheðinn. Scythians: Ivančik, “Guerriers” 1993.
17 Tiryns krater and quote: Vermeule and Karageorghis, Vase Painting 1982, 108–109,
catalogue no. X.1; Lincoln, Death 1991, 137 (taking them for tiger warriors); Drews, End
1993, 146. Prof. Deger-Jalkotzy, Innsbruck, kindly points out to me the name ro-ko, which
may be Lykos or Lykon, “Wolf”.

Notes 189
18 Iliad 16, 156–164 in the Fagles translation; cf. 4.471f. and Vergil, Aeneid 2.355ff. Wolfish
rage : Iliad 8.299; 9.237–239 and 305 (Hector); 21.542f. (Achilles); West, East
Face 1997, 213. Greek wolf-warriors: Iliad 9.459 ( ); Pausanias 4.11.3; Ovid,
Metamorphoses 12.380f.: “Dorylas, qui tempora tecta gerebat/pelle lupi”; Burkert, Homo
1972, 98ff.; Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 33f; 82f; 131f; McCone, “Hund” 1987, 122; Lincoln,
Death 1991, 131–137. Sparta: Jeanmaire, Couroi 1939, 463ff., esp. 550ff. Apollo the wolf
god: Bowra, Poetry 1952, 398; Unruh, “Wargus” 1954, 10; Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 132;
Gershenson, Apollo 1991. Greek heroes with wolf names or wolf myths: Gershenson, Apollo
1991, 67ff.; Kershaw, God 2000, 162ff. Animal-rage warriors nevertheless differed from
blindly raging amok runners: Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 34; also p. 44f, this volume.
19 Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 129ff; 187. Vergil, Aeneid 7.688: “fulvosque lupi de pelle
galeros/tegmen habuit capiti: vestigia nuda sinistri instituere pedis, crudus tegit altera perro.”
See p. 72; Binder, Aussetzung 1964, 30f.; Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 184ff. Hirpi Sorani:
Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 77; 187f.; Kershaw, God 2000, 146ff. Etruscans: Vergil, Aeneid
11.679ff.: “Caput ingens oris hiatus et malae texere lupi/cum dentibus albis”; Alföldi,
Struktur 1974, 83.
20 Vergil, Aeneid 1.275: “lupae fulvo nutricis tegmine laetus.” Propertius 4.10.20: “galea
hirsuta compta lupina iuba.” Livy 1.12.9: “Romulus cum globo ferocissimorum iuvenum.”
Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 81; Hauck, “Bilddenkmäler” 1976, 591; McCone, “Hund” 1987, 130.
Ancient wolf-spirit and Luperci in Rome: Dumézil, Religion 1970, 346ff.; Alföldi, Struktur
1974, 34; 80ff; 86ff. Hannibal’s time: Roman wolf-warriors: Polybius 6.22.3; Walbank,
Commentary 1957, 703. Alföldi, “Hasta” 1959, 63, wrongly took Republican denarii to show
wolfskins: the coins portray the goat-hood of Juno Sospita; cf. Eliade, Zalmoxis 1970, 13–
30.
21 Celts: Birkhan, Kelten 1997, 344ff; 356ff; 379ff; 735ff; 1049. Wolves called dogs: McCone,
“Hund” 1987, 106; Birkhan, Kelten 1997, 379–382; Scheibelreiter, Tiernamen 1976, 55f.;
Celtic dogs bred from wolves: Pliny, Natural History 8.148.
22 No hint of the Column’s wolf- and bear-warriors is found in Jahn, Bewaffnung 1916;
Delbrück, History 1990 (=1921); Meuli, “Maske” 1933; Gundel, Dakerkriege 1937; Blaney,
“Berserkr” 1972, 175f.; Strobel, Untersuchungen 1984; Ziegler, “Oðin” 1985; Kershaw,
God2000, etc. Höfler, Schriften 1992 (= 1940), 129 refers to Cichorius’ treatment of scene
36, but only for “Fellhüllen,” and does not follow it up. Luckily, this also kept Hitlerites
from claiming the warrior styles for their dream-history. Altheim, Niedergang I, 1952,
116ff., greatly to his credit, gives wolf-warriors their due, yet misses scene 36 of the
Column. Lepper and Frere, Column 1988, 84, report nothing.
23 Tacitus, Agricola 36.1: “rem ad mucrones et manus adducerent, quod est ipsis vetustate
militiae exercitatum.”
24 Standard-bearers: Pollen, according to Cichorius, Reliefs 1896, 178. Antesignani: Vegetius
2.16. Guards: Froehner, Colonne 1865, 101. Cichorius, Reliefs 1896, 178 with reference to
his “systematischer Teil” (never published) takes them to be a German cohort. The soldier
with a pelt-hooded shield in scene 12, whom Cichorius held to be of the same unit as that in
scene 36, is a legionary standard bearer (his standard omitted as in scene 106), for auxiliaries
on the Column are not builders and do not direct legionaries.
25 Mythological: Eliade, Shamanism 1964, 640. Bare shelves: Puhvel, Mythology 1987, 191.
26 Hittites: Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 33 and 82 with plate 2. Armilustrium: Crous,
“Waffenpfeiler” 1933, 76; 102. Gundestrup cauldron third century AD: Birkhan, Germanen
1970, 170ff; 357. Initiation: McCone, “Hund” 1987, 111; Kershaw, God 2000, 196ff; 256. A
good picture of the wolf scene is in Piggott, Druids 1975, 78.
27 Tacitus, Histories 2.88.3: “Nec minus saevum spectaculum erant ipsi, tergis ferarum et
ingentibus telis horrentes.” They would be the Transrhenani of Tacitus, Histories 2.93.1; cf.
1.52.3; 1.61.2; 2.22.1; 2.32.1; 2.35.1. The Batavian cohorts were not with them, as they had

Notes 190
already gone home: Tacitus, Histories 2.69; Bang, Germanen 1906, 58; Heubner, Historien
1968, 302. Keppie, Legions 2000, takes them for legionaries, but their huge weapons give
them away as Germani (Tacitus, Histories 5.18; Annals 1.64; 2.14; 2.21; Lucanus 6.259; Dio
38.49.2; Ammianus 16.12.24; Hamberg, “Germanen” 1936, fig. 9).
28 Höfler, Schriften 1992, 71. German weavers’ skills: Todd, Barbarians 1987, 115f; Speidel,
Decorations II, 1997, 232. Much, Germania 1967, 272 sees here fur coats. Italic fur-bearing
soldiers, though: Silius Italicus, Punica 8.523; 570. Fur as part of Roman camp dress in the
north: Tacitus, Annals 2.13.1.
29 Tribal wolf-warrior youths: Jeanmaire, Couroi 1939, 540ff.; Bremmer, “Suodales” 1982,
141; McCone, “Hund” 1987; Gershenson, Apollo 1991, 116 (“age-mates”); Kershaw, God
2000. Chosen group: the Arcadian “wolves,” Pliny, Natural History 8.81, etc.; Jeanmaire,
Couroi 1939, 553; also p. 194, this volume. Twelve: Helgisaga Óláfs konungs Haraldssonar
68f.; Blaney, “Berserkr” 1972, 86; Hrólfs saga Kraka; Güntert, Geschichten 1912; Höfler,
Runenstein 1952, 303ff.; also pp. 44 and 75, this volume. In the Volsung saga kings
themselves are wolf-warriors.
30 Animal standards (“ferarum imagines”): Tacitus, Histories 4.22.2. Wulfenus: Nesselhauf,
“Inschriften” 1937, nos. 245ff.; 251. Birkhan, “Germanen” 1970, 379. (W)ulfus: CIL III,
1839. See also the joint wolf- and bear-names discussed on p. 41. Ulpius: CIL XIII, 11810;
Dessau, Inscriptiones 1892–1916, 7080 additions; Syme, Tacitus II 1958, 786; Wiegels,
“Ulpius” 1999- Honored: Syme, Tacitus II 1958, 786. Meant wolf: Pokorny, Wörterbuch
1959, 1178f.; Cagnat, Inscriptiones 1911, vol. 3, no. 20 (Cios, Bithynia); an Ulpius Lupus,
perhaps a Batavian, is found in Speidel, Denkmäler 1994, 35; also AE 1990, 516. A new
Batavian Lupus of Trajan’s time: Birley, Garrison 2002, 100. Woodhound: Müller,
Personennamen 1970, 69; 212; Birkhan, “Germanen” 1970, 378f.; Düwel, Runenkunde
2001, 2; cf. Förstemann, Namenbuch 1900, 1509: Walthun. Indo-European names: Schmitt,
“Altertumskunde” 2000, 400. Wolf: Müller, Personennamen 1970, 201 and 210f. Feared,
etc.: Unruh, “Wargus” 1954, 9; Müller, Personennamen 1970, 191ff. Dragons: Müller,
Personennamen 1970, 188ff. Be like them: e.g. Ingiald in Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla,
Ynglinga saga 34.
31 Wilson, Diversity 1992, 348–351.
32 Julian’s Auxilia: Hoffmann, Bewegungsheer 1969, 159. Shield badges authentic, though
sometimes slipped from their place: Speidel, Studies II, 1992, 414–418; contra: Grigg,
“Inconsistency” 1984. Franks and Alamanni the main contributors to the fourth-century
Rhine army: Waas, Germanen 1971, 9; Alamanni: Strohecker, Germanentum 1965, 30–53
(p. 38: not prisoners but volunteers). For the animal on the first badge of row 4, see p. 53.
33 A change from tribal youths to the warband of a leader: Kershaw, God 2000, 131f. Wargs: ŗg
Veda 1.42 (Maurer, Pinnacles 1986, 188); Avesta: Wikander, Vayu 1941, 138; Eisler, Man
1952, 145; Unruh, “Wargus” 1954; Widengren, Feudalismus 1969, 15; 20; cf. 39: “helper”
or “wolf”; Eliade, Zalmoxis 1970, 16; Gerstein, Warg 1974, 132; Campanile, “Meaning”
1979; McCone, “Hund” 1987, 119. Outlaws: Schmidt-Wiegand, “Spuren” 1994, 258;
Gerstein, Warg 1974, 155; McCone, “Hund” 1987; Campanile, “Meaning” 1979. On the
sociological problem see Wenskus, Stammesbildung 1961, 372f.; Höfler,
“Verwandlungskulte” 1973, 250. According to Unruh, “Wargus” 1954, 38f., “wargus” came
to denote the criminal, “ulf” the warrior wolf. Romans: CIL XIII 6429; Dessau, Inscriptiones
1892, 395=RIU 1127–1137; Dessau, Inscriptiones 1892, 724. Sidonius Epistulae 6.4.1:
“Vargorum (hoc enim nomine indigenas latrunculos nuncupant) superventus,” cf. Unruh,
“Wargus” 1954, 7. Anglo-Saxon Vearg: Grimm, “Bedeutung” 1865, 204; Saxo 137, with
commentary by Davidson, Saxo 1979. Cf. Slavic vrag (Davidson, Saxo 1979).
34 Seneca, De Ira 2.15.4: “Deinde omnes istae feritate liberae gentes leonum luporumque
ritu…” Seneca knew little of wolves when he wrote “as they will not obey so they cannot
rule”; see Steinhart, Company 1995, 345. Ammianus 31.7.9: “Verebantur hostes et male
sanos eorum ductores ut rabidas feras”. Iordanes, Getica 24: “pugnabant beluina saevitia.”

Notes 191
Opus imperfectum in Matthaeum (fifth/sixth century; Migne, Patrologia Graeca 1857ff., 56,
626): “Sicut solent et barbarae gentes nomina filiis imponere ad devastationem respicientia
bestiarum ferarum, vel rapacium volucrum, gloriosum putantes filios tales habere ad bellum
idoneos et insonientes in sanguinem.” Beck, Ebersignum 1965, 98f.; Müller, Personennamen
1970, 178. See also the “wolf” of Vegetius 4,23,3.
35 Thracians: Herodotus 5.1; also the Cimmerian wolfhounds in war: Gordon, “Swords” 1953,
76. Celtic war dogs: Birkhan, “Germanen” 1970, 345ff.; above, note 21. Cimbri, allies:
Pliny, Natural History 8.61.143; 148. Hounds like wolves symbolic: Ninck, Wodan 1935,
99; Beck, Ebersignum 1965, 77, note 37.1; Birkhan, “Germanen” 1970, 353ff.; 379; cf.
Höfler, Geheimbünde 1934, 41ff.; 55ff.; Paul, Wolf 1981, 86ff Kershaw, God 2000, 133ff.
Indo-European: Birkhan, “Germanen” 1970, 345ff.; McCone, “Hund” 1987. Greek houndtopped
helmets: Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 33f.; Celtic dog-helmets: Birkhan, Kelten 1997, 209;
1108; 1125; McCone, “Hund” 1987, 104f.; 119f. A Pictish hound-warrior is seen on the
ninth-century stone from Gellyburn, Murthly, in the Scottish Museum, Edinburgh. Hounddragon
standards: Trajan’s Column, basis. Dacians=Wolves or Hounds: Pokorny,
Wörterbuch 1959, 235; Eliade, Zalmoxis 1970. In AD 250 on a coin of Decius (RIC IV,
101c) the Roman province of Dacia holds a wolf- or hound-dragon standard. Longobards:
see p. 23.
36 For example, Saxo 115.7f, where they howl together.
37 Vegetius 2.3.5: “Minor sudor, et maturiora sunt praemia.” Ammianus 18.2.6: “Auxiliarii
milites semper munia spernentes.” Speidel, “Auxilia” 1996.
38 Gregory of Tours, Historiae 1.32 (Persecution of Christians by Valerianus, AD 257–262):
“Horum tempore et Chrocus ille Alamannorum rex, commoto exercito, Gallias pervagavit.”
The version in Fredegar, Chron. II.60 that makes the same Crocus King of the Vandals is
muddled, see Schmidt, Ostgermanen 1969, 109, note 3 (Schmidt, however, takes Gregory
for being even more mistaken—wrongly, it seems, cf. Castritius, “Krokus” 2001). The elder
unhistoric: Schmidt, Westgermanen 1970, 234; 248; Buchner, Gregor 1955, I, 37. Historic:
Loreto, “Penetrazione” 1994; Demandt, Staatsformen 1995, 552f.; Castritius, “Semnonen”
1998, 362. For the coming of the Alamanni in Caracalla’s time see Becker, Rom 1992, 322ff.
The younger Crocus: Aurelius Victor, Epitoma 41.3 (Pichlmayr 166): (Constantine, at the
death of Constantius in 306) “quo mortuo cunctis qui aderant annitentibus, sed praecipue
Croco Alamannorum rege, auxilii gratia Constantium comitato, imperium capit.” (Of course,
to Eusebius, Vita Constantini 1.24, it was god himself who chose Constantine.) Speidel,
“Auxilia” 1996, 165. Misread: Schönfeld, Wörterbuch 1965, 78; Müller, “Wolfhetan” 1967,
204. Aurelius Victor: Epitoma 41.3 in the Teubner edition 1966 by Fr. Pichlmayr; Reichert,
Lexikon I, 1987, 227; 576 (Rucco); II 1990, 36; 549.
39 Hauck, Namenbuch “Adelskultur” 1957, 17; Hauck, “Mittelalters” 1957, 368; Förstemann,
1900, 1655; and especially Müller, “Wolfhetan” 1967, 204. If Hroc had a long o, it would
mean “crow”: thus Kaufmann, Personennamen 1968, 199, who unconvincingly explains the
double c in forms such as Chroccus and Chrocchus as “expressive gemination” rather than as
a sign that the o is short. Kaufmann’s result is accepted by Reichert, Lexikon II, 1990, 549,
while Müller, Personennamen 1970, 58 hesitates about it (on pp. 212ff he still takes
Wolfhroc and Hroccolf for wolf-warriors and Hedinus and Bialfi as shortened from
Wolfhetan etc.).
40 Ammianus 27.10.3; 30.7.7. Reichert, Lexikon I 1987, 788 (Vithigabi); Kershaw, God 2000,
159.
41 Wolf-warrior kings: Romulus, the Irish Cormac mac Airt (McCone, “Hund” 1987, 138);
Sigmund and Sinfiotli in the Volsung saga (see p. 23). Thorfinn, earl of Orkney, raiding
England at some time before 1033, is “wolf-lord” in Orkneyinga saga 24. For the high rank
of Norwegian dog-warriors see Höfler, Schriften 1992, 56. Compare Achilles’ captains
flaunting wolfishness, see p. 16. Alamannic Wolfhrocs: Müller, “Wolfhetan” 1967, 203.

Notes 192
Wolf names among Alamanni: Förstemann, Namenbuch 1900, 1655; Müller,
Personennamen 1970, 212f.
42 Höfler, Runenstein 1952, 330–333; Höfler, Schriften 1992, 83ff.; 102ff. Cf. Steuer, “Helm”
1987, 222; Steuer, “Gefolgschaftsproblem” 1992, 208. As the name Heoden in the poem
Widsith means “wearer of a wolf- or dog-skin,” so Heoden’s tribe were the Glomman
(“Barkers”): Widsith 21; 69; Much, Osten 1920, 154ff.; 161; doubted somewhat by Beck,
“Personennamen” 1986, 313f.; see also p. 33, this volume. Compare the Wolfings: Beck,
“Personennamen” 1986, 313.
43 Wolf-forebears, robbery: e.g. Italic Hirpini-wolves, of whom Servius, Aen. 9.785 says “lupos
imitarentur…id est rapto viverent” (Scheibelreiter, Tiernamen 1976, 51). Altheim,
Niedergang I, 1952, 118; Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 127ff. and passim; McCone, “Hund” 1987,
127ff.; Kershaw, God 2000, 133ff. The myth of the wolf-forebear also reached Southeast
Asia, Palaeosiberia, and North America: Koppers, “Hund” 1930; Gershenson, Apollo 1991,
116 and 123. Germanic Wulfings: Beowulf 461; 471; Grimm, “Bedeutung” 1865, 206.
Alamanni: Wenskus, Stammesbildung 1961, 494ff.; Steuer, “Theorien” 1998. Iuthungi: AE
1993, 1231 (= 1996, 1182–3); Dexippus FGH
100.6.18f.: .Contra:
Castritius, “Mischlinge” 2002.
44 No nation: Wais, Alamannen 1943, 16f.; Wenskus, Stammesbildung 1961, 505f.; 509ff.;
Geuenich, Geschichte 1997, 41. Rag-tag: Agathias 1.6.3:
; Cato, Origines fr. 20 (Peter): “convenae”; for =
“convenae” see Strabo 4.2.1; cf. Plutarch, Romulus 9.2; Strabo 5.3.2 (230c); Norden,
Urgeschichte 1974, 495f.; Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 119; 130f. Praenestines as “collecticii”:
Scholia Veron. Aeneid 7.681 (after Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 189); Kershaw, God 2000, 136.
Indo-European: Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 120; Campanile, “Meaning” 1979; Kershaw, God
2000, 133ff. Compare the foreigners added by the Spartan founders Eurystheus and Prokles:
Strabo 8.5.5; Wagner, “Dioskuren” 1960, 237.
45 Lombards: McCone, “Hund” 1987, 129. Hound-, but also wolf-warriors: Kershaw, God
2000, 151ff. Paul the Deacon, Historia I.7 (MGH) “Erant siquidem tunc Winnili universi
iuvenili aetate florentes, sed numero perexigui, quippe qui unius non nimiae amplitudinis
insulae tertia solummodo particula fuerint.” I.11: “Simulant se in castris suis habere
cynocephalos, id est canini capitis homines. Divulgant aput hostes, hos pertinaciter bella
gerere, humanum sanguinem bibere et, si hostem adsequi non possint, proprium potare
cruorem.” For Germanic formal equivalents of cynocephali see Müller, Personennamen
1970, 190 and 221. There is, of course, much cliché here, see Ammianus 27.4.9f, and
Wiedemann, “Men” 1986, but compare Strabo 291 and Velleius 2.106.2. The dog-warriors
are reported right: Höfler, Gehetmbünde 1934, 187; Schriften 1992, 49ff. and 58ff.; Hauck,
“Lebensnormen” 1955, 206ff.; De Vries, Religionsgeschichte II, 1957, 37; Müller,
Personennamen 1970, 69ff.; 190; 205.
46 Volsung saga 8: “konungasynir.” Heavy golden armrings as a mark of royalty: Werner,
“Armring” 1980. Blood: Helgakviða Hundingsbana in fyrri 36, 9f.
47 Herodotus (1.122) told such a tale (with a wolf foster-mother) of the Persian Achaemenian
dynasty, with many of the same details as in the myth of Romulus. The link between Cyrus
and Romulus was seen already by Pompeius Trogus 44.4.12; Binder, Aussetzung 1964;
Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 134ff.; Kershaw, God 2000, 133ff. Epics: Wolfdieterich, cf. Grimm,
“Bedeutung” 1865, 206ff.
48 Gershenson, Apollo 1991, 116 and 123f., argues that wolf-warriors founding new nations
were young because the wolf was the animal of initiation rites.
49 Höfler, Schriften 1992, 42–82: Dante’s symbol of the fierce veltro-hound, Inferno 1, 101ff.
will set the world aright, Paradiso 17, 76ff.; Altheim, Niedergang I, 1952, 116; Hauck,
“Lebensnormen” 1955, 208f.; de Vries, Religionsgeschichte II, 1957, 37; Höfler, Siegfried

Notes 193
1961, 30f. Myths: Hauck, “Lebensnormen” 1955, 206ff. Left: Dumézil, Mythes 1939, 65–78;
Hauck, “Lebensnormen” 1955; Wenskus, Stammesbildung 1961, 485–494; Bremmer,
“Suodales” 1982; McCone “Hund” 1987, 129; Höfler, Schriften 1992, 42–82. All fail to
mention wolf- or dog-warriordom as part of the youthful land-seeker myth of the Lombards
and Alamanni. Arcadians: Pliny, Natural History 8.81; Przyluski, “Loups-garons” 1940, 129
and passim, takes this to be pre-Indo-European. Lucani: Iustinus, Epitoma 2.1.4ff.:
“confluente…multitudine”; Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 130f. Other wolf-warriors living by
robbery (though not seeking new land): Sigurd and Sinfiotli in the Volsung saga, see p. 35f,
this volume. Praeneste: see pp. 14 and 22. Banished: Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 127ff.;
Campanile, “Meaning” 1979.
50 Robbery: Ammianus 16.5.17: “raptu vivere.” Horsfall, “Romulus” 1971, 1113. Ibor and
Agio: Origo Gentis Langobardorum (MGH Script. Rer. Lang.); Paul the Deacon, Historia
1.3; Müller, Personennamen 1970, 157. Hengist and Horsa: Bede, HE 2.5, cf. Hauck,
“Polytheismus” 1994, 237. Raus and Raptus: Dio 71.12, cf. de Vries, Religionsgeschichte II,
1957, 249ff. Twin kings: Ward, Theme 1970; Chaney, Cult 1970, 9; Alföldi, Struktur 1974,
151ff.; also p. 122, this volume. Twins leading youthful land-seekers: Wagner, “Dioskuren”
1960, 229ff.; McCone, “Hund” 1987, 129; Wenskus, “Religion” 1994, 222. Old Irish wolfwarrior
bands: McCone, “Hund” 1987, 105.
51 Caesar, Gallic War 6.23.6–8.
52 Tacitus, Germania 14; Bede, HE 3.14. Outlaws, riff-raff: Caesar, Gallic War 3.17.4, speaks
of such “deperditi homines, latronesque,” and while he does not use the word convenae, he
uses convenerat. Ziegler, “Oðin” 1985, 85ff.; Kershaw, God 2000, 130. Celts: Bremmer,
“Suodales” 1982, 140ff. Such recruitment is well parallelled among North-Amercian
Indians: Turney-High, War 1991, 87 (though with mistakes about the Suebi); Catlin, Letters
1973, II, 242. Germani: Wenskus, Stammesbildung 1961, 368ff. Kershaw, God 2000, 131
rightly wants them to be “cultic initiatory brotherhoods.” To Romans, Longobards and
Alamanni were wilder than others: Velleius Paterculus 2.106.2: “Langobardi gens etiam
Germana ferocitate ferocior.” Alamanni: Panegyrici Latini 4.2.1; Ammianus 27.10.5; 28.5.9;
Symmachus, Oratio 1.17; 2.4 (“ferox natio”); Alföldy, Krise 1989, 196.
53 Confederation: Mommsen, History 1996, 274f. Brought together: Wenskus, Stammesbildung
1961, 494–512. Many kings: Ammianus 16.12.1.
54 In 1945 the Russians stole the scabbard in Berlin; they have yet to return it. A photograph of
a cast (less precise) is in the Römisch-Germanisches, Zentralmseum, Mainz, see Fuchs,
Alamannen 1997, 437 (size 27.4×7.4 cm). Naue, “Schwertscheide” 1889; Garscha,
“Schwertscheide” 1939; Hauck, “Adelskultur” 1957, 11ff.
55 Naue, “Schwertscheide” 1889, 120, sees here a “Waffenrock.” The parallel lines of fur are
horizontal, both on the tail and on the back, contra Naue, ibid. Hauck, “Adelskultur” 1957,
12, assumes that the fur reaches to below the knees: “bei dem Bruchstück die gleiche
Zottenmusterung wiederkehrt, die bei der oben ganz erhaltenen Gestalt des Wolfskriegers
benützt ist, um seinem Gewand Fellcharackter zu geben”; Höfler, “Berserker” 1976, 300,
“knielanger Mantel.” The tail, as a comparison with the Torslunda die (Figure 1.6) will
show, is neither a seax (thus Naue, “Schwertscheide” 1889, 120) nor “a quiver, filled with
arrows” (Garscha, “Schwertscheide” 1939, 3).
56 Shoes: the shoe vessel from Mainz-Herchtsheim, Wieczorek, Franken II 1996, 679. Lamellar
armor: Naue, “Schwertscheide” 1889, 120: “Bronzeplättchen.” Ring-swords: Steuer,
“Ringschwert” 1987, 213; Steuer, “Gefolgschaftsproblem” 1992, 208. Knee-long hauberks:
Fuchs, Alamannen 1997, 238 (Gammertingen); 408 (Niederstotzingen); in the Middle Ages:
Contamine, War 1984, 184ff.
57 Härke, “Organization” 1997. Compare berserks, p. 75, this volume.
58 Naue, “Schwertscheide” 1889, 119: “das erhaltene Fragment der Silberplatte”; Garscha,
“Schwertscheide” 1939, 3f.: “bei dem aus einem Stück geschnittenen Scheidenbelag.”

Notes 194
59 Bowl or box: Garscha, “Schwertscheide” 1939, 3f.: “Es will scheinen als ob das Blech
ursprünglich für andere Zwecke bestimmt gewesen wäre”; Hauck, “Adelskultur” 1957, 23:
“Kanne, Eimer.” Steuer, “Ringschwert” 1987, 205, adds “Trinkhorn”; Böhner, “Eschwege”
1991, 718: “etwa die Verkleidung eines Kästchens… zerschnitten und wieder
zusammengesetzt.”
60 Spear: Hauck, “Adelskultur” 1957, 12ff. with fig. 5. Unlike Hauck, however, I find no
meaningful “Glättungspuren” around the upper wolf-warrior, on either the photograph of the
Berlin Museum or the galvano cast published in Fuchs, Alamannen 1997, 437.
61 Bruce-Mitford, Aspects 1974, 198ff.; Arwidsson, Valsgärde 1977, 21ff.; Hauck,
“Polytheismus” 1994, 208ff.; Böhner, “Eschwege” 1991, 707ff.
62 Gutenstein scenes: 5.5×7.5 cm, compare with 5.2×5.6 cm (Valsgärde 7), 5.2× 5.8 cm (Sutton
Hoo 2), 6.2×7 cm (Torslunda) and 5.5×5.4 (Pliezhausen). The Gutenstein dies (including
four embossed borders of about 3 mm) thus each measured about 14×7.5 cm. The grave 12
helmet is illustrated in Böhner, “Eschwege” 1991, 719.
63 The golden Pliezhausen disc also comes from an Alamannic Vendel helmet, see Chapter 17,
162f. Alamannic and Swedish art linked: ibid.
64 Vendel crossband helmets: see p. 163. No three-figure scenes: the Obrigheim foil (Figure
1.5), restored by Hauck “Adelskultur” 1957 as a three-figure scene (doubted by Böhner,
“Eschwege” 1991, 717f.), is too small for a Vendel helmet and thus has no bearing on
whether the Gutenstein scene had two or three figures. Corresponding two-figure scenes:
helmet from Sutton Hoo, Bruce-Mitford, Sutton Hoo 1978, 186ff. Helmets from Vendel,
graves 12 and 14: Böhner, “Eschwege” 1991, 719. The Torslunda scene is even closer to the
Gutenstein scene than suggested in the restoration drawing by Hauck, “Adelskultur” 1957,
fig. 5, for above the foot of the left-facing warrior seem to be traces of the butt-end of
Woden’s spear, which therefore, as on the Torslunda die, points upward (Figure 1.6). Also,
what to Hauck, “Adelskultur” 1957, 14, seemed to be “eine weitere verdrückte Speerspitze,”
looks like the toe of Woden as on the Torslunda die. If so, Woden there faced left.
65 Thumb: contra Sutton Hoo Böhner, “Eschwege” 1991, 718; but the Sutton Hoo helmet foils,
Bruce-Mitford, 1978, 189, also have outsize thumbs. Dance spurring on: see pp. 117ff.
Einheriar: Hauck, “Adelskultur” 1957, 17f.; Böhner, “Eschwege” 1991, 718. Offering one’s
weapons to join a following: Formulae Marculfi, MGH Form. 55: “una cum arma sua in
manu nostra trustem et fidelitatem nobis visus est coniurasse.” Mythical heroes: Hauck,
“Wiedergabe” 1981, 168ff.; Böhner, “Spangenhelme” 1994, 544. Heroes pledging
themselves to Woden: Höfler, Runenstein 1952, 83ff.; Beck, Bilddenkmäler 1964, 41ff. Cf.
Steuer, “Ringschwert” 1987, 223.
66 Bruce-Mitford, Sutton Hoo 1978, 101; Böhner and Quast, “Grabfunde” 1994, 397 (Vendel
1); Anwidsson, Valsgärde, 1977, figs. 25–6; Böhner, “Spangenhelme” 1994, 534, fig. 3.
67 Tacitus, Germania 13f.; Bede, HE 3.14. Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla, Óláfs saga Helga
215 shows the pride warband leaders took in having outstanding warriors joining them.
68 Main weapon handed over: Hauck, “Wiedergabe” 1981, 168ff.; Steuer, “Ringschwert” 1987,
205; Böhner, “Spangenhelme” 1994, 544. Vendel grave 14: Hauck, “Adelskultur” 1957, 17
and plate VIII; Böhner, “Eschwege” 1991, fig. 30.
69 This is slightly less than Steuer’s “Reichsideologie” (“Ringschwert” 1987)—there was no
Alamannic “Reich” in the sixth century.
70 Woden as a wolf-warrior: IK 65 (Gudbrandsdalen); cf. IK 7 (Års, fig. 26) and Heimskringla,
Ynglinga saga 6. Ziegler, “Oðin” 1985.
71 Contra: Hauck, “Adelskultur” 1957, 17. On the Vendel 14 helmet the dead would be rather
too many.
72 Höfler, Runenstein 1952, 83ff.
73 Alamannic names: Müller, “Wolfhetan” 1967, 210f.; among the early Saxons and Anglo-
Saxons, wolf-warrior names are rare. Anti-Roman stance: Ammianus 26.5.7: “gentes
immanissimas”; Fuchs, Alamannen 1997, 122ff.; Scardigli, “Problem” 1999

Notes 195
74 Gait: Müller, “Wolfhetan” 1967, 207f. Vulfolaic: Förstemann, Namenbuch 1900, 1655, cf.
995f.; Beck, “Stanzen” 1968, 245ff.; Kaufmann, Personennamen 1968, 223; Reichert,
Lexikon I, 1987, 796. The earliest example comes from AD 585: Gregory of Tours, Historiae
368.6 and 380.26 (a Lombard). From the seventh century onwards the name Vulfolaic is
often found: Förstemann, Namenbuch 1900, 1655. Lykormas: Eisler, Man 1952, 142.
Children raised by wolves could run very fast on all fours: Singh and Zingg, Wolf-Children
1942, 30. Eliade, Shamanism 1964, 460f. War dance: see p. 123.
75 Auxilia Palatina shield badges often blazon Germanic religious symbols: Altheim,
Niedergang II, 1952, 345ff.; Alföldi, “Cornuti” 1959. Altheim, Literatur 1948, 148f. and
Niedergang II, 1952, 348ff. takes the many sun symbols as a reflex of Aurelian’s sun
worship, but they may be Germanic, see Hauck, “Herrschaftszeichen” 1954, 38, especially in
view of the likelihood that Maximian on the Rhine, not Aurelian, raised the first Auxilia
Palatina (Hoffmann, Bewegungsheer I, 1969, 155ff.).
76 Agathias 1.7; 2.1.7. Böhner and Quast, “Grabfunde” 1994.
77 Names: Müller, Personennamen 1970, 139–143. New homelands: Höfler,
“Verwandlungskulte” 1973, 252f. Alamannic cult of Woden: Höfler, Geheimbünde 1934,
78. Ethos: Werner, “Heilsbilder” 1963.
78 Oberwarngau, grave 171; Prähistorische Staatssammlung, München, inv. 1953, 308;
unpublished. Such belt-ends are datable to AD 640–670: Siegmund, “Gürtel” 1999, 172, fig.
9.
79 Heilsbilder: Beck, Ebersignum 1965, 53f. Insignia: Fuchs, Alamannen 1997, 282f. Bavarians
as relatives of Alamanni: Geuenich, Geschichte 1997, 90f. Wolf-names: Müller,
“Wolfhetan” 1967, passim.
80 Libanius: Oratio 59.131 (on Franks): . Chedinus: Gregory of Tours,
Historiae 485; for the related Hiadnings and Old Norse Heðinn; also see p. 33, this volume.
There are some Frankish wolf-warrior names (Müller, “Wolfhetan” 1967), but Chrocus is
Alamannic and not from West Francia (Gregory of Tours, Historiae 24–26), pace Müller,
“Wolfhetan” 1967, 202. Gregory: Unruh, “Wargus” 1954, 20f.
81 Steuer, “Ringschwert” 1987, 205 suggests Obrigheim on the Neckar river rather than
Obrigheim in the Palatinate, hence from Alamannia, but see now RGA s.v. Obrigheim.
Hauck, “Breddenkmäler” 1957, 354, sees here an illustration of the Hildesaga. Hauck,
“Adelskultur” 1957, 12, gives Woden a twin-snake headgear (cf. p. 120f, this volume), but
Böhner, “Eschwege” 1991, 717, says one cannot see it. The dancer’s headgear looks rather
like the lone-snake cap on the Vindonissa foil (Hauck, “Adelskultur,” fig. 3). Further right
was a warrior with a shield, according to Hauck, “Adelskultur” 1957, 11ff., but doubted by
Böhner, “Eschwege” 1991, 717.
82 Böhner, “Eschwege” 1991, 717, mentions “zwei noch schwach erkennbare Ansätze” above
the god’s head that might be restored to look like the twin dragons of the Torslunda die
dancer, but this is unlikely, for to show the twin dragons, the dancer’s head needs to be
depicted frontally.
83 Browband decorations: Böhner, “Spangenhelme” 1994. A drinking bowl or beaker (Steuer,
“Ringschwert” 1987, 205) seems less likely, given the content of the scene.
84 Conversion: Wallace-Hadrill, Church 1983, 17–36.
85 Bruce-Mitford, Sutton Hoo 1978; Hauck, “Sutton Hoo” 1982, 351f. Howl: Fight at
Finnsburg 6: “Gylleð græghama.”
86 Indians, Romans, Germani: Kershaw, God 2000; Livy 10.27.9: “Martius lupus—gentis nos
Martiae et conditoris nostri admonuit”; Woden’s wolves: Grímnismál 19; de Vries,
Religionsgeschichte II, 1957, 61. Geri: Grímnismál 19. Woden-sprung kings: Chaney, Cult
1970, 121ff., who fails, however, to see the two throne wolves on the Bayeux tapestry as
Woden’s beasts with the king. Woden’s wolves in England: Owen, Rites 1981, 10f. and 15;

Notes 196
comparable eagle carvings: Beck, Bildderkmäler 1964, 30f. God’s might: Höfler,
“Abstammungstraditionen” 1973, 28f.
87 Höfler, Geheimbünde 1934; de Vries, Religionsgeschichte I, 1956, 454 and II 1957, 498;
Davidson, Scandinavia 1967, 98f.; Beck, “Stanzen” 1968; Bruce-Mitford, Aspects 1974,
214ff.; Hauck, “Kulte” 1980, 519 (one-eyedness); Hauck, “Germania-Texte” 1982, 192f.
(with a drawing that marks the neck-ring of the right-hand dragon); Hauck, “Dioskuren”
1984, 485; Böhner, “Eschwege” 1991, 718 reviews Hauck’s results, mainly approving. The
hat-wearer not Woden: Bruce-Mitford, Aspects 1974, 208; Anwidsson, Valsgärde, 1977,
125; Steuer, “Ringschwert” 1987, 222; but see pp. 117ff, this volume. Not adduced here are
the hound-headed warriors on the shorter Gallehus horn, for they may be “Mischwesen”
rather than wolf-warriors, contra Höfler, Schriften 1992, 79; Quast, “Kriegerdarstellungen”
2002, 271.
88 See the twin-dragon shield badge on p. 49 and in Figure 3.2.
89 Flaps: see p. 120. Viksø: Cunliffe, Prehistory 1994, 330. See also Caesar’s Vercingetorix
denarius. Headgear: see pp. 118ff.
90 Threaten: Hauck, “Herrschaftszeichen” 1954, 47; Hauck, “Adelskultur” 1954, 19f.; Alföldi,
“Cornuti” 1959, 177. Spear avoids foot: Beck, “Stanzen” 1968, 239; 247ff. Vulfolaic: see p.
29
91 See pp. 98 and 117.
92 Hauberk: contra, Höfler, “Berserker” 1976, 300 “mit einem bis zu den Knieen reichenden
Fellkittel—bekleidet.” Hauberks: Bruce-Mitford, Sutton Hoo, 1978, 232–239. Wolf-names:
Ninck, Wodan 1935, 51. Reichert, Lexikon II, 1990, 656–659. In the north: Müller,
“Wolfhetan” 1967, 201ff. Müller’s study lays to rest von See’s claim (“Berserker” 1961) that
Thorbjörn Hornklofi in the ninth century “invented” the úlfheðnar; see also Beck, “Stanzen”
1968, 247; Müller, Personennamen 1970, 222; Höfler, “Berserker” 1976, 300. On the shared
culture of Alamannia and Sweden, see p. 162f.
93 Saxo 115; Volsung saga 8. Eliade, Shamanism 1964, 460f. (also p. 14, this volume).
94 Gods present: Snorri Sturluson, Ynglingasaga 6; Dumézil, Destiny 1970, 141; Eliade, Myth
1963, passim. Any warrior wolf: Müller, Personennamen 1970, 4ff. and 178ff.; in “The
Battle of Maldon,” 96, the Danes are called “waelwolfas.” Young Helgi is a friend of
“wolves,” Helgakviða Hundingsbana 1.6: “sá er varga vinr.” Hiadnings: Skáldskaparmál 61;
Hátatal 49; Höfler, Geheimbünde 1934, 162–172; Landolt, “Hedeninge” 2000, 109–110. For
the related Frankish Chedinus, see p. 30. For Old Norse Heðinn, see Blaney, “Berserkr”
1972, 31ff.
95 IK 65 (Gudbrandsdalen).
96 Beck, “Stanzen” 1968, 247f.
97 Irish: McCone, “Hund” 1987, 104. Pictish: stone of Gellyburn, Murthly, Perthshire, now in
the Scottish Museum, Edinburgh (a photograph in Birkhan, Kultur 1999, 337). Lithuanians,
Slavs: Kershaw, God 2000, 165ff.
98 Ringquist, “Människofigurer” 1969, from grave 46. Ringquist’s drawing gives the hood a
back-crest which it does not have, as I observed when studying the original.
99 Úlfheðinn: Müller, Personennamen 1970, 212. Tail: strangely, folk tales from Schleswig-
Holstein hold that a short, stumpy tail betrays a werewolf, setting him off from a real wolf
(Rheinheimer, “Wolf” 1994, 411).
100 Perhaps a spear: Ringquist, “Människofigurer” 1969- Heathen crosses (Thor hammers):
Paulsen, Axt 1939, 240; 266; Hauck, “Auswertung” 1998, 336; Hauck, “Brakteat” 2000, 32;
48; 57; 63; Behr, “Kreuz” 2000. Crosses on sword blades: Beck, Ebersignum 1965, 50.
101 Portray heroes: Hauck, “Wiedergabe” 1981, 168ff.; Böhner, “Spangenhelme” 1994, 544.
Sigurd: Ellis, “Sigurd” 1942; Blindheim, Billedkunst 1972; Ploss, Siegfried 1966; Ziegler,
“Oðin” 1985, 10 and 100ff.; Düwel, “Sigurddarstellungen” 1986. Some tenth-century
crosses from the Isle of Man show Sigurd stabbing horizontally, but perhaps only for lack of
space (Ellis, “Sigurd” 1942; Düwel “Sigurddarstellungen” 1986, 240ff.). A fourteenth-

Notes 197
century weaving from Lundevall/Telemark has both Sigurd and the dragon stand upright as
they fight—but this is because the dragon snaps after Sigurd’s horse (Blindheim, Billedkunst
1972, no. 19; Ploss, Siegfried 1966, 102 with fig. 11; Düwel, “Sigurddarstellungen” 1986,
249). Beowulf. 874–887.
102 Sigmund: Neckel, “Drachenkampf’ 1920, 122ff. (contra: Ploss, Siegfried 1966, 12). A hero
fighting a standing dragon seems to be shown on the Burwell box, too, but without a wolfmask:
Vierck, “Nordendorf” 1967, 121f. and fig. 5.1a. Winchester: Biddle, Excavations
1966, 329ff. Cf. Höfler, Geheimbünde 1934, 210ff.
103 The Icelandic Fornmanna sögur (3, 182f.) of the fourteenth
century still know a wolf-warrior as king of the otherworld; Höfler,
Geheimbünde 1934, 172ff. Being too heathen for Christian times, the
lay of Sigmund gave way, around AD 1000, to the lay of Sigurd:
Neckel, “Drachenkampf” 1920, 226. Sinfiötli=Fitela: Beowulf 879;
889; Fitela=“wolf”: Klaeber, Beowulf 1950, 434f.; Müller,
Personennamen 1970, 211. Early lay: Neckel, “Drachenkampf”
1920; Höfler, Geheimbünde 1934, 210ff.; Haubrichs, “Karolinger”
2000, 292. Sigmund and Sinfiötli: Grimm, “Bedeutung” 1865, 206.
104 Ringquist, “Människofigurer” 1969
105 Woden’s men: Höfler, Runenstein 1952, 331f. Hauck, “Adelskultur” 1957; Hauck,
“Bilddenkmäler” 1976, 592; Ziegler, “Oðin” 1985. Enright, “Warband” 1998, 329; 335.
Among Alamanni, wolves and eagles were Woden’s animals—witness the Deisslingen and
Löhningen discs. Woden worshipers, typically, were leaders of warbands, de Vries,
Religionsgeschichte II 1957, 97ff. Warbands were religious groups: Enright, “Warband”. For
the religious link of animal names and animal symbolism among ancient Germani see
Müller, “Tiersymbolik” 1968; third-century Germanic dog- and wolf-images as the animals
of a war god: Werner, Aufkommen 1966, 13ff.; cautious: Müller, Personennamen 1970,
195ff. (not “Attributstiere”).
106 Beck (“Stanzen” 1968, 247f.) assumes a bond of Woden with the úlfheðnar, based on the
line by Eyvind Skaldaspillir quoted on p. 33, which, however needs not imply a bond with
Woden. “Mythologize”: von See, “Berserker” 1961, 135, commenting on Snorri’s Yngliga
saga 6: “Woden’s…men went to battle without hauberks and acted like mad dogs or
wolves”; Höfler, “Berserker” 1976, rightly rejects this. Moreover, Woden himself sometimes
wore fur, hence his Old Norse name Loðinn: Müller, Personennamen 1970, 214; see Höfler,
Runenstein 1952, 329ff.; also Woden’s wolf-tail on the Års bracteate amulet see Figure 11.2.
His Anglo-Saxon name Grim means “the one with the mask,” which makes him a masked
warrior, perhaps a wolf-, bear-, or buck-warrior: Grimm, “Bedeutung” 1865, 205; Müller,
Personennamen 1970; Stenton, England 1971, 100; Owen, Rites 1981, 10; Kershaw, God
2000.
107 Wolfdieterich: Grimm, “Bedeutung” 1865, 209- Compare the Volsung saga, Ziegler, Oðin
1985. Sin: Dumézil, Destiny 1970, 65–107. Magic: Eliade, Myth 1963, 13ff.
108 Blaney, “Berserkr” 1972, 85f.; cf. Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla, Óláfs saga Helga 228
(Hollander, Heimskringla 1964, 514f.).
109 See p. 43f.
110 Paul the Deacon, Historia Langobardorum 1.11; Volsung saga 8; Helgaqviða
Hundingsbana in fyrri 36.9f.; Egils saga 66; cf. Saxo 24; 51. Compare Ammianus’ tale of a
windpipe-biting, blood-sucking naked Arab (31.16.6; Woods, “Ammianus” 2002) that may
be a Gothic wolf-warrior tale.

Notes 198
111 Sturluson: Óláfs saga Helga 228. Hafrsfjord: Sturluson, Harald’s saga Hárfagra 18; see p.
43f. Fire and steel: compare p. 79, this volume; furs, of course, offer also some natural
protection against blades: Pausanias 4.11.3.
112 Saxo 115.7f.: “Pugiles…ululantium more luporum horrisonas dedere voces”; compare Saxo
162. However, they need not be wolf-warriors (as distinguished from bear-warriors by
Hornklofi), for by Saxo’s time they all could be called berserks, cf. Davidson, Saxo 1979, II,
105; moreover, the battle cry generally seems to have been a wolfish howl: p. 111, this
volume.
113 Wolf-warriors: Gerstein, “Warg” 1974, 155; McCone, “Hund” 1987, 145; Kershaw, God
2000. Seen as berserks: Höfler, Schriften 1992, 60ff.; von See, “Berserker” 1961, 129–135,
Grönbech, Kultur 1997, I, 274. It may be best not to call wolf-warriors “werewolves,” for
were-wolfishness is not a warrior style but rather a personal trait, or even an imagined
sickness (lycanthropy); cf. Pliny, Natural History 8.80; Ninck, Wodan 1935, 50; 60; 62ff.; de
Vries, Religionsgeschichte I, 1956, 238; Burkert, Homo 1972, 103. Vatnsdæla saga 9: “
berserkir, er úlfheðnar váru kallaðir; hofðu vargstakka fyrir brynjur.” Our translation, in
which we are heartened by a kind letter from H. Beck, follows Müller, “Wolfhetan” 1967,
200, and others. By contrast, von See, “Berserker” 1961, 135, translates “wolf-pelts over
their hauberks,” yet if berserks by this time were understood to be “bare-shirts” (Ynglinga
saga 6), how could they wear hauberks? Scorned armor: Höfler, Runenstein 1952, 331.
McCone, “Hund” 1987, 106, wrongly equates wolf-warriors of antiquity and the early
Middle Ages with naked warriors: they were armored, as Figures 1.1, 1.4, 1.6 and 1.7 show.
114 Wolfdieterich: Grimm, “Bedeutung” 1865, 206ff. Public hunts: Rheinheimer, “Wolf” 1994.
On the loose: New York Times, April 2, 2000 (evening edition).
115 Medieval wolf-sympathy: Grimm, “Bedeutung” 1865, 205f.; 210ff.; Förstemann,
Namenbuch 1900, 1653: “Wolfhelm,” Old English “Vulfhelm.” Family symbols: Werner,
“Heilsbilder” 1963, 380. Hundsgugel: The helmet was once fitted with a mail neckguard,
compare Contamine, War 1984, fig. 19. Höfler, Schriften 1992, 65 suggests there was a
broad tradition of such masks in other materials, now lost. The other age-old warrior image
of wolves, that of outlaws haunting the woods, lived on even longer into early modern times.
The peasants of Lorraine, whom the Thirty Years War (1618–1648) turned into
highwaymen, were “Schnapans, loups de bois,” just as those who fought the French invaders
of the Franche Compté from 1674 to 1678, were “loups de bois”: Boulainvilliers, État 1752,
396; Gresset, Provinces 1977, 30 (references I owe to the kindness of Kieko Matteson).
2
BEARS
1 Bear sympathy: Müller, Personennamen 1970, 201f. Ziegler,“Oðin” 1985, 77. Sioux: Catlin,
Letters I, 1973, 244; a Tlingit bear helmet in the Leningrad Museum of Anthropology:
Siebert and Forman, Art 1967, plate 51. China: Eliade, Shamanism 1964, 460f. A bronze
figurine of a bear-man from Ust-Garevaya, Perm region, is in the Hermitage Museum, St
Petersburg. Bears and warriors in Asia: Altheim, Niedergang I, 1952, 72f. The old-fashioned
Greeks of Arcadia wore perhaps both wolfskins and bearskins in battle, but we do not know
how far they identified themselves with the animals (Pausanias 4.11.3; Alföldi, Struktur
1974, 44f.; Scheibelreiter, Tiernamen 1976, 50; McCone, “Hund” 1987, 121ff.). Celts:
Birkhan, “Germanen” 1970, 439f. The bear-pelts of Silius Italicus 4.558 and 8.523 (and
perhaps those of Pausanias 4.11.3, too) covered only the chest, not the head, hence the
warriors did perhaps not identify with bears. Beck, “Personennamen” 1986, 304: “Mit einer

Notes 199
gewissen Wahrscheinlichkeit lässt sich ein indogermanisches Erbe nur für das
Namenselement Wolf sichern.”
2 Cichorius, Reliefs 1896, 175: “Vier der Soldaten tragen über Kopf und Schultern ein Thierfell,
dessen Unterkiefer als Wangenschild zu dienen scheint und dessen Tatzen über der Brust
gekreuzt sind; an der rechten Seite tragen sie die leere, am balteus von der linken Schulter
herabhängende Schwertscheide, während das Schwert selbst in der gesenkten Rechten zu
ergänzen ist.”
3 Overlong bear claws are seen also on the gravestone of Pintaius: Bauchhenss, Grabdenkmäler
1978, no. 5; see the marked claws on the gravestones of Faustus, Secundus, and Genialis:
Boppert, Grabdenkmäler 1992, nos. 7; 8; 9.
4 Roman helmets combined with bear-hoods for use by Roman soldiers: Vegetius 2.16;
gravestone of Pintaius: Bauchhenss, Grabdenkmäler 1978, no. 5. Roman helmets combined
with animal-hoods for use by Germanic warriors: see p. 51f. Germanic helmets covered with
animal skins: Plutarch, Marius 25.7. Free Germani: Tacitus, Germania 6: “Vix uni alterive
cassis aut galea”; Much, Germania 1967, 144f.
5 Cichorius, Reliefs 1896, 175: “Über Kopf und Schultern ein Thierfell, dessen Unterkiefer als
Wangenschild zu dienen scheint.” Spurs: Trajan’s Column, scene 61. Hellenistic lion-head
helmets, too, were not meant to mask the wearer but to add to his height and fierce looks:
Crous, “Waffenpfeiler” 1933, 81.
6 Names: CIL XIII, 11735 from Heidelberg has a Respectus Beri, “son of the bear”; Speidel,
Studiey II 1992, 102f.; Reichert, Lexikon II, 1990, 480. Nesselhauf, “Inschriften” 1937, nos.
245ff.; 251. Birkhan, “Germanen” 1970, 379. Names and fury: see pp. 43 and 45.
7 Kops plateau: Enkevort-Willems, “Helmets” 1994. Marten-helmet: see p. 52. Both reworked
helmets fit Polybius’ description 6.22.3 of “a plain helmet” (i.e. without plume), covered
with a wolfskin. Reworking: Jankuhn, in Much, Germania 1967, 145; Ilkjær, “Gegner”
1997; Reichmann, “Spuren” 1999, 109 (below, Figure 4.1). Batavians reworking helmets:
Enkevort and Willems, “Helmets” 1994, 134f. Naturalistic masks are not essential in animal
sympathy (Beck, Ebersignum 1965, 54; Höfler, “Berserker” 1976, 301), hence some bear
hair was enough, as was some wolf hair wound around the ring Gudrun sent to Gunnar
(Atlaqviða 8). Names such as Bernhelm, Beornhelm: Höfler, Schriften 1992, 96f. Feeling
like a bear: Eliade, Shamanism 1964, 459; Grönbech, Kultur 1997, I, 291.
8 Germanic paired units: Höfler, Geheimbünde 1934, 158f. Greeks:
Xenophon, Lacedaemonians 4.2ff.; Romans: Speidel, Riding 1994,
32; 42f.; 60; 73; also p. 8, this volume; Byzantines: Priscus, frag. 49
(Blockley)=Excerpta de leg. gent. 21: Wolf and bear are
at times also paired in names as on the arch of Dativius Victor in
Mainz, CIL XIII, 11810; Dessau, Inscriptiones 1892–1916, 7080
additions; or in graffiti from Heddernheim: Scholz, “Bevölkerung”
1997, 53f. Blaney, “Berserkr” 1972, constantly pairs Norse wolf- and
bear-warriors. Romans, too, held bears and wolves together in awe
(Ovid, Metamorphoses 14.255; 15.87; Apuleius, Metamorphoses
8.17), and some Roman families named their sons Bear, Boar, and
Wolf: CIL XI, 1777, Volaterrae, noticed by Syme, Papers 1988, 526,
as Anthony Birley reminds me. Wolf- and bear-names in the same
family in Icelandic sagas: Egils saga 1ff.; Höfler, “Berserker” 1976,

Notes 200
302. See also the bear-wolves on the belt-buckle from Herbergen,
Waurick, Gallien 1980, 189.
9 Atlakviða 11 (around AD 900). The Norwegian lawbook (94) outlaws bears and
wolves together: Gerstein, “Warg” 1974, 139; Paul, Wolf 1981, 56.
10 In the famous Esquiline painting from the third or second century BC, M. Fannius, getting a
military decoration, wears an animal skin over his shoulder, perhaps a token of overcoming
an enemy: Alföldi, Reiteradel 1952, 50ff. Roman standard bearers wearing animal skins over
the shoulder: CIL XIII 6911 and 11868=Boppert, Grabdenkmäler 1992, 8 and 9. Bearhoods,
a Roman tradition: Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 81f and Hägg, “Haithabu” 1984, 186,
without evidence. Adopted: Couissin, Armes 1926, 422ff. Torcs: Livy 6.42.5; 7.9.6–10.14;
Valerius Maximus 3.26; Ammianus 24.4.5; Maxfield, Decorations 1981, 86f.
11 Standard-bearers with decorations: Maxfield, Decorations 1981, 138. Late-Roman torc
awards likewise first went to the bravest and then became a badge of standard-bearers:
Speidel, “Decorations” I, 1996. Sander, “Germanisierung” 1939, 14f., awkwardly suggests
that Romans wore bear-hoods against the cold. Badge: Vegetius 2.16: “ad terrorem” seems
right, contra Couissin, Armes 1926, 424. First line: Speidel, “Who Fought” 2000. Höfler’s
suggestion, Schriften 1992, 67ff. that first-century legions had enough Germani in their ranks
to entrust Germanic pelt-wearers with their holy standards, is rather unlikely.
12 Polybios 6.22.3. In a few cases, however, the reliefs picture wolf- rather than bearhoods on
Roman standard-bearers, such as in scene 26 of Trajan’s Column; regular bear-hoods of
Roman standard bearers on Trajan’s Column: Florescu, Trajanssäule 1969, 110. Alföldi,
Struktur 1974, 82, has the cornicen on the Great Trajanic frieze wear a wolfskin, but his
plate 5.2 more convincingly calls it a bearskin. The Aurelian panels portray only bearskins,
no leopard skins: Scott-Ryberg, Panel Reliefs 1967, 41, contra Couissin, Armes 1926, 422.
Alföldi, “Hasta” 1959, 4, sees wolf hoods on coins of the mid-first century BC, but they are
the goat hoods of Juno Sospita.
13 Rhine auxiliaries: Couissin, Armes 1926, 422ff.; there is one from Ragusa/Croatia, now in
Vienna: Domaszewski, Fahnen 1885=Aufsätze 1972, 73 fig. 87. Pintaius: CIL XIII
8098=Dessau, Inscriptiones 1892–1916, 2580=Domaszewski, Aufsätze 1972, fig.
86=Bauchhenss, Grabdenkmäler 1978, no. 5. Genialis: CIL XIII 11868
(Weissenau)=Boppert, Grabdenkmäler 1992, no. 9. On coins of Hadrian further standardbearers
of auxiliary cohorts wear bear-hoods: RIC 927–930: Exercitus Raeticus; cf. RIC 935:
Exercitus Syriacus.
14 Rhine legions: Couissin, Armes 1926, 423. Early legionary standard-bearers with bear-hoods
are Q. Luccius Faustus and Valerius Secundus, standard-bearers of legion XIV Gemina; their
gravestones, found at Mainz, date from the years after AD 70: CIL XIII, 6898 and
6911=Boppert, Grabdenkmäler 1992, nos. 7 and 8. Trajan: Great frieze on Constantine’s
Arch in Rome; RIC 657. The latest bear-hood I know is that of the hornblower on the
Portonaccio sarcophagus, see e.g. Kiechle, “Taktik” 1965, plate 15.2, just beneath the dragon
standard. Praetorian standard-bearers: Trajan’s Column, scene 113; perhaps after Vergil,
Aeneid 7.688f.; for the transition to lion-hoods compare Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 81.
15 Unruh, “Wargus” 1954, 20. The guard get-up is still preserved in Vienna’s Wagenburg-
Monturdepot at the Hofburg (information I owe to my friend Hanns Ubl). Georgians in the
Caucasus: Shota Rustaveli, The Knight in the Panther’s Skin, verse 84, says of his knight
“Over this rich apparel was flung the skin of a panther, and the cap on his head was made
from the self-same panther skin” (translation by Venera Urushadze, Tbilisi 1986).
16 Odysseus similarly stripped the Wiesel cap off Dolon for a trophy: Iliad 10.458. North
American Indians wore the dress and weapons of those they had slain in battle: Catlin,
Letters 1973, I, 100. Likewise a medieval knight had the right to bear the arms taken from a

Notes 201
foe in battle (Keen, Chivalry 1984, 130). Paris of Troy wore a leopard skin in battle: Iliad
3.17.
17 Unless a third-century irregular unit among the Batavi, known only as numerus Urs (…),
represents bear-warriors named after Latin ursus (bear). Numerus Urs (…): CIL XIII,
12505–12507; AE 1938, 34; Alföldy, Hilfstruppen 1968, 80; Hoffmann, Bewegungsheer I,
1969, 184.
18 Scorn: Claudian, In Rufinum, 2.76–85; Synesius, De Regno 20; Sidonius, Epistulae 5.7.4;
John Lydus De magistratibus 1.12. Codex Theodosianus 14.10.4: “Maiores crines,
indumenta pellium etiam in servis intra urbem sacratissimam praecipimus inhiberi”(AD
416). Excubitores: Corippus, Iust. 1.202ff.; 3.165ff.; Haldon, Praetorians 1984, 136ff.;
Whitby, “Omission” 1987, 483ff. Fur: John Lydus, De magistratibus 1.12. In the mountains,
Arcadians and Bruttians, though, wore fur: Pausanias 4.11.3; Silius Italicus, Punica 8.523;
568ff. Sympathy: Höfler, Schriften 1992, 70f.; McCone, “Hund” 1987, 122.
19 Gregory of Tours, Historiae 9.12. Bear-names: Ninck, Wodan 1935, 48f. Names meant what
they said: Scheibelreiter, Tiernamen 1976, 48. Scheibelreiter, Gesellschaft 1999, 185; 371ff.:
“verwandelter Mensch”; “Sonder- oder Höchstform der Existenz”; “Trance.” Weakness:
Egils saga 27; Höfler, “Berserker” 1976. “Ursio” (o.t. “yrre”): Müller, Personennomen
1970, 18.
20 Finnesburg 38. Names no longer understood: Müller, Personennamen 1970, 246.
21 Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla, Haralds saga Hárfagra 18. Berserks in Norse literature:
Weiser, Jünglmgsweihen 1927, 43ff.; Höfler, Geheimbünde 1934, 198f.; Ninck, Wodan 1935
34ff.; de Vries, Religionsgeschichte I 1956, 493; Kuhn, “Grenzen” 1956, 68ff.; von See,
“Berserker” 1961. Müller, Personennamen 1970, 222, Blaney, “Berserkr” 1972, and Höfler,
“Berserker” 1976, 301, give the best accounts. Simek, Dictionary 1993, 35; Daxelmüller,
“Geheimbünde” 1998, 563.
22 Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla, Ynglinga saga 6. Güntert, Geschichten 1912, 21f.; Müller,
Personennamen 1970, 222f; Blaney, “Berserkr” 1972, 21ff.; 27ff. (fullest account of the
discussion); Höfler, “Berserker” 1976, 299; Simek, Dictionary 1993, 35; contra von See,
“Berserker” 1961, well refuted by Blaney, “Berserkr” 1972, 27ff. For bear warriors in Norse
literature see Hrólfs saga Kraka; Weiser, Jünglingsweihen 1927, 48; Ninck, Wodan 1935,
48ff.; Höfler, “Berserker” 1976, 299; Ranke, “Bär” 1976, 47. Wolfpelts, too, could be called
serkr, see Daxelmüller, “Geheimbünde” 1998, 563; von See, “Berserker” 1961, 132.
23 See also Haraldskvaeði 20f., dated by von See, “Berserker” 1961, 131f. to the twelfth
century. Ninck, Wodan 1935, 34ff.; Höfler, Runenstein 1952, 93f. “Serkr” in this context
may mean “hauberk,” Thorbjorn Hornklofi, Haraldskvaeði 4: serkjom hring-ofnom “ringwoven
sarks.” Cf. von See, “Berserker” 1961, 132; Höfler Runenstein 1952, 299
24 Hornklofi’s emjuðu is the howling of wolves: Altlamál 24.7: emioðo úlfar. Wolf-warriors
howling: see p. 14. The shaking of weapons may refer to the wolf-warriors’ war dance, see
p. 29- Grenja of berserks: e.g. Egils saga 64, cf. Güntert, Geschichten 1912, 10. Snorting of
bears on the attack: Grzimek, Encyclopedia 1990, 400. Broken sword blade: Lay of
Hildibrand’s death (Ásmundar saga kappabana 8, prologue). Berserks snarling like dogs:
Vatnsdoela saga: grenjuðu sem hundar. Grenja in Old Norse prose: information kindly
given by James E. Knirk of the Dictionary of Old Norse Prose in Copenhagen. Real bears:
Vilmundar saga vidutan 170; Grettis saga 75.6. Remarkably, the sound of waves breaking is
also that of the fourth-century barritus battle cry: Ammianus 16.12.43 (see p. 111). In the
light of Knirk’s information, Güntert, Geschichten 1912, 10, and Müller, Personennamen
1970, 217, seem to be mistaken in translating grenia as heulen. The shield-biting that goes
with it may also be a bear-attack sound (see p. 77), and Egils saga 54 (where Davidson, Saxo
1979, II, 77 and 105, takes grenja wrongly for the howling of wolves).
25 Claim: von See, “Berserker” 1961, now amply refuted by Blaney, “Berserkr” 1972, 23ff. A
technical term: Güntert, Geschichten 1912, 19ff.; Höfler, “Berserker” 1976, 299, was right—
as so often; cf. Strom, “Björnfällar” 1980. Parallelism: Müller, “Wolfhetan” 1967, 201;

Notes 202
Personennamen 1970, 222f. Names: Förstemann, Namenbuch 1900, 262–270 (with
“Perrhelm”); Ninck, Wodan 1935, 50ff.; Höfler, Runenstein 1952, 306; 329f.; Müller,
Personennamen 1970, 220; Ranke, “Bär” 1976; Beck, “Eber” 1986, 335; Grönbech, Kultur
1997, I, 272. See also the bear-youth and bear-fight of seventh-century heroes on the
Torslunda plaques and Vendel foils: Hauck, “Bilddenkmäler” 1976, 591; “bear-heads”
(Björnhofda): Höfler, “Berserker” 1976, 300; Böhner, “Eschwege” 1991, 967. Bears as
shield names: Beck, Ebersignum 1965, 36. Bjarnheðinn (“bear-pelt”) is a rare Norse
personal name: Höfler, “Berserker” 1976, 299; Müller, “Wolfhetan” 1967, 202; Müller,
Personennamen 1970, 212. Bearhelm and Wolfhelm are both common names (Höfler,
Schriften 1992, 96ff.), although “helm” may here mean “leader, protector” (Müller,
Personennamen 1970, 220f.).
26 Nowadays it is the fashion to dismiss such links (e.g. RGA 17, 2001, 205–237), but here they
stand well documented. More positive: de Vries, Religionsgeschichte I, 1956, 9ff.; Gordon,
Battle 1966, 26; Ellmers, “Schiffsdarstellungen” 1986. The study of the Celts has not
suffered from such time-serving, cf. Stancliffe, “Kings” 1980, 80.
27 Perlaicus: Förstemann, Namenbuch 1900, 263. Imitating: Catlin, Letters 1973, I, 244.
Dancing bears in the early Middle Ages: Ranke, “Bär” 1976. China: Eliade, Shamanism
1964, 460f.; Mallory and Adams, Encyclopedia 1997, 56, report Hittite bearskin dancers.
Bear-warrior style a Scandinavian invention: Simek, Dictionary 1993, 35. Nordic berserks
certainly derive not from late-Roman guards as has been said, nor from (bare-chested)
gladiators, contra Kuhn, “Grenzen” 1956, 68–73; Kuhn, “Kämpen” 1968; see Wenskus,
Stammesbildung 1961, 365; Ziegler, Oðin 1985, 77f.
28 Oseberg drawing also in Marstrander, Skipene 1986, 132. Hougen, “Billedvev” 1940, fig. 9;
Simpson, Life 1987, 151ff. The “ears” of the hoods point to wolf- or bear-warriors, while
their puzzling shape could be due to constraints of textile art, or to the felt of which they may
have been made like others found at Haithabu in Schleswig Haithabu: Hägg, Haithabu 1984.
29 Snorri Sturluson, Ynglinga saga 6, (see p. 74, this volume). Howled: Davidson, Road 1976,
113f., referring to Leo the Deacon. Gait: Müller, “Wolfhetan” 1967, 207ff. with reference to
Wolfdregil etc. Becoming a bear: Güntert, Geschichten 1912, 20ff.; Höfler, Geheimbünde
1934, 171; Altheim, Niedergang I, 1952, 116. Müller, Personennamen 1970, 178ff.; 194.
Grönbech, Kultur 1997, I, 291: “Man kann die Sprünge eines Tieres nicht nachahmen, ohne
dass eine innere Anpassung stattfindet.” Understandably, the Roman Vegetius (2.16) sees
only the frightening aspect of bear-hoods: “Omnes antesignani vel signiferi, quamvis
pedites, loricas minores accipiebant et galeas ad terrorem hostium ursinis pellibus tectas”;
Höfler, Schriften 1992, 54f.; 67f. Animal language as spirit language of power: Eliade,
Shamanism 1964, 93ff. Sagas: Egils saga 64, cf. Güntert, Geschichten 1912, 10. Shapeshifting:
Blaney, “Berserkr” 1972, 39ff.
30 Bear attack sounds: Grzimek, Encyclopedia 1990, 400. Berserks biting shields in sagas:
Snorri Sturlusson, Ynglinga saga 6; Vatnsdcela saga 16; Grettis saga 151–153; Blaney,
“Berserkr” 1972, 4. The Lewis chess rooks are in the form of warriors biting shields that
they hold in their hands, thus refuting the suggestion of Przyluski, “Loupsgarons” 1940,
133ff, that berserks held shields with their teeth because their hands had become paws. The
best shield-biting rook of the Lewis chess set is in the Scottish Museum, Edinburgh, see
Figure 5.4. Snorting and teeth-snapping in battle madness is known of the Sioux too: Catlin,
Letters 1973, I, 246.
31 Trance: Eliade, Shamanism 1964, 385; 459f.; 504; Beck, Ebersignum 1965, 146f.; Beck,
“Ekstase” 1989; Höfler, Siegfried 1961, 28ff.; Höfler, Schriften 1992, 63. Some shamans,
too, used bear heads for their cap of power, Eliade, Shamanism 1964, 154f. Carib:
Whitehead, “Warfare” 1990, 152.
32 Blaney, “Berserkr” 1972, 70f., suggests that the bears on Vendel helmet foils are also
warriors in bear disguise. If so, they differ from wolf-warriors in that they, like Bothvar
Bjarki, are all-bear, not just hooded men.

Notes 203
33 Hrólfs saga Kraka 33; Güntert, Geschichten 1912, 20. Wound-proof: cf. Eliade, Shamanism
1964, 100. Grades of shape-shifting: Blaney, “Berserkr” 1972, 39ff.; Alföldi, Struktur 1974,
36f. Strength: Snorri Sturluson, Ynglinga saga 6 (on berserks): “strong as bears or bulls.”
Irish legend: Güntert, Geschichten 1912, 30, note 41. Sioux “Mah-to-ra-rish-nee-eech-eerah”:
Catlin, Letters 1973, I, 223.
34 Woden’s bear names: de Vries, Religionsgeschichte II, 1956, 363; Beck, Bilddenkmäler
1964, 13. Woden as a bear: Höfler, Runenstein 1952, 237. Religious, symbolic, not mindless:
Beck, Ebersignum 1965, 80; 98f.; Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 34. Modern views of bear-warriors
are ambivalent: J.J.R. Tolkien’s Beorn in The Hobbit, though quick to anger, is good, while
Michael Crichton’s bear-warriors in The Thirteenth Warrior are evil.
35 Symbols: Höfler, Schriften 1992, 147–149ff.; Beck, “Eber” 1986, 335. Bear-warrior suit:
Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Firenze; Höfler, Schriften 1992, 64f.
3
BUCKS
1 Columella 7.3.4: “est illud incommodum in cornuto, quod cum sentiat se velut quodam
naturali telo capitis armatum, frequenter in pugnam procurrit.” Indians: Alföldi, “Cornuti”
1959, 177f.; Kershaw, God2000, 202. Iranians: Ammianus 19.1.3 on the Shah wearing a
ram’s head, for which see the Sassanian silver bowl now in Baltimore: Alföldi, Struktur
1974, plate 14; Dumézil, Destiny 1970, 139. Sardinian Shardana: Drews, End 1993, 135ff.,
145 and 154; Cunliffe, Prehistory 1994, 286f. Mycenaeans: the famous warrior-vase from
Mycenae (Vermeule and Karagheorgis, Vase Painting 1982, 132ff.; Catalogue no. XI, 42).
Archaic Greeks: Jeanmaire, Couroi 1939, 570–575; Alföldi, “Cornuti” 1959, 177f.
Alexander’s horned fur helmet (Künzl, “Fellhelme” 1999, fig. 11) may be a buck headgear.
Celts: Diodore 5.30. Birkhan, Kelten 1997, 1125–1149. The Celtic war god was often
horned: Pauli, Kelten 1980 (with goatskin); Birkhan, Kelten 1997, 637. Celtic buck-warriors
are known from helmets with goat horns and from the British Gabrantovices (Goat People):
Birkhan, “Germanen” 1970, 462ff. Romans: coins and terracottas show Juno Sospita dressed
like a goat-hooded warrior; Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 86ff. (with a huge bibliography); see also
Widengren, Feudalismus 1969, 57; Dumézil, Religion 1970, 346ff.; Ulf, Luperkalienfest
1982, 140f., doubts whether Luperci and wolves are related, but provisionally admits bucks
and hounds as “initiation animals”; Kershaw, God 2000, 148; 192f. The Luperci have a very
close parallel in the vrāta of Vedic India: de Vries, Religionsgeschichte II, 1957, 96.
2 L’Orange, Bildschmuck 1939, 41–43; 60–64.
3 L’Orange, Bildschmuck 1939, 63, takes all spearmen of the siege scene to be Cornuti, but the
second and the fourth may not have horns and the third certainly has none. However, since
they wear the same leather helmets as that worn by Cornutus below the wall, they are also
Germanic warriors of the auxilia. Their leather helmets recall the leather helmet of a
horseman in scene 36 of Trajan’s Column (Figure 0.2), also from the Rhine; compare earlier
large Celtic horned leather helmets: Moreau, Welt 1961, plate 48f.; Birkhan, Kelten 1997,
1125f.
4 Notitia Dignitatum Oc. V, 2–23; Seeck, Notitia, 1876, 115. For the raising of these units under
Maximian (284–305) see Julian, Orations 1.34; Hoffmann, Bewegungsheer I, 1969, 155f.;
hence Altheim, Literatur 1948, 232 wrongly thinks they did not fight at the Milvian Bridge
in 312. Fighting spirit: Columella 7.6.4: Quia cornuti fere perniciosi sunt propter
petulantiam; cf. Petulantia in Ammianus 17.13.28; 26.7.4; 29.5.33; 31.6.3; Alföldi,
“Schildzeichen” 1935. Bucks as warrior animals: Müller, Personennamen 1970, 190. Other
Germanic warriors besides the Cornuti and Petulantes of Constantine’s Arch may also have
worn helmets with upstanding horns, as on the Pruttning stone of AD 313: CIL III

Notes 204
11771=Garbsch and Overbeck, Spätantike 1989, 71; contra: Alföldi, “Cornuti” 1959, 173;
Hauck, “Polytheismus” 1994, 211. Helmets with horns carved or overlaid on the bowl, are,
of course common, see the Portonaccio sarcophagus, Figure 17.4.
5 Germanic warriors: Zosimus 2.15.1; Libanius, Oratio 30.6; Speidel, “Auxilia” 1996. Contra
Barnes, Augustine 1995, 387 “largely Gallic”; but see F.Paschoud, Zosime, Histoire
Nouvelle, vol. I, Paris 1971, 204. His “Germanoi” are men from the Rhine armies, named
after the Roman provinces of the Germaniae. Gauls, pacified for 350 years, had lost their
onetime warrior traditions (Tacitus, Agricola 11), although some still enrolled (Hoffmann,
Bewegungsheer I, 1969, 154).
6 Alföldi, “Schildzeichen” 1935; L’Orange, Bildsehmuck 1939, 43 and 123; Alföldi, “Cornuti”
1959; Höfler, Schriften 1992, 117ff.; Hauck, “Polytheismus” 1994, 208ff.
7 “Horns”: Alföldi, “Cornuti” 1959, 172; Hoffmann, Bewegungsheer I, 1969, 132f.; Hauck,
“Bilddenkmäler” 1976, 590; Hauck, “Polytheismus” 1994, 218. For a buck with a beard
coming down from the upper lip see e.g. Selzer, Steindenkmäler 1988, no. 255, though
snakes also have such beards: Garbsch, Paraderüstungen 1978, plate 3, B3 (greave B11
from Straubing).
8 Princeton Art Museum; Alföldi, “Cornuti” 1959, fig. 2.
9 As emperors paraded in the accoutrements of their guard, Cornuti promoted from the auxilium
must have formed a section of the Schola Gentilium guard.
10 Cornuti on the arch: L’Orange, Bildschmuck 1939, 41–43; 60–64. They are famous later as
well: Ammianus 15.5.30; 16.11.9; 16.12.43; 16.12.63; 31.8.9.
11 Meaning: Werner, Aufkommen 1966, 25. Heruli, etc: Panegyrici Latini 10.5.1: “Chaibones
Erulique, viribus primi barbarorum, locis ultimi”; Nixon, Praise 1994, 62ff. Panegyrici
Latini 12.25.2: “Tibi se ex ultime barbaria indigenae populi dedivere.” Speidel, “Auxilia”
2004.
12 Gallehus horn: see p. 122. Myth: Eliade, Myth 1954. Saxo, 13f.: “Nam tegmine saepe
ferino/contigit audaces delituisse viros.” Davidson, in her 1979 commentary p. 28, note 13,
quotes an Icelandic parallel. Perhaps a buck-warrior is meant in the Oseberg weaving:
Marstrander, Skipene 1986, 128 (upper left). Buck-warriors fired the Dutch nationalistic
historical imagination: Teitler, Opstand 1998, 9; 11; 22; 40; 66.
13 She-goats: Ammianus 24.8.1: “deformes illuvie capellas et taetras.” Audun the Nanny Goat:
Grettis saga 7.
14 Names: Müller, Personennamen 1970, 75ff.; 169; 190; a new Buccus from Vindolanda:
Birley, Garrison 2002, 100—though the name could also be Celtic as in CIL XIII, 5730
(Langres). Bucciovaldus (“Buck-Warrior Leader”): Gregory of Tours, Historiae 9.23;
Buccilin, etc.: Reichert, Lexikon II, 1990, 487; also Birkhan, “Germanen” 1970, 462f;
Müller, Personennamen 1970, 190.
15 Ethnographic traces of buck-warriors from the Middle Ages to the present: de Vries,
Religionsgeschichte II, 1957, 64, referring to masked processions; Höfler, Geheimbünde
1934, 40f.; Höfler, Runenstein 1952, 175; Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 95.
4
MARTENS
1 Wolverine: Altheim, Niedergang I, 1952, 73f.; 178f.; 325f.; Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 37f.;
plates 4.1 and 4.2. Heroic myth looked to the weasel: Volsung saga 8. Noaname: Müller,
Personennamen 1970, 206.
2 Werner, Aufkommen 1966, 26 and plate 12. The animal with its long, slim body and sharply
curved back is certainly neither a wolf (Werner ibid.) nor a tiger (Werner, Zierscheiben
1941, 62); Beck, Ebersignum 1965, 54: “rückwärts blickendes Tier.”

Notes 205
3 Dolon: Iliad 10.335; 458; see p. 15, this volume. Greek , “marten” is Latin “galea.”
Meuli, Maske 1933, 1848; Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 37f.
4 For a photo, see Reichmann, “Spuren” 1999, 109. Dr Reichmann, in a letter, kindly described
some features of the helmet for me, adding that a comparable Lynx skull and pelt was found
in the fort. For reworked Roman helmets see p. 41.
5 Plutarch, Marius 25: ; compare Vergil, Aeneid
11, 680f. The Goths in AD 399 also wore yawning animal helmets: Reichert, “Feldzeichen”
1994, 310f. (Gainas).
6 Neumagen relief, now in Trier: Schumacher and Klumbach, Germanendarstellungen 1935,
70. Doubt: Reichert, “Feldzeichen” 1994, 310f.
7 Compare the Tell Halaf relief: Alföldi, Struktur 1974, plate 4.1. The unit ascribed to the badge
is that of the Iovii, but on this side of the manuscript the labels are untrustworthy. Germanic:
Speidel, “Auxilia” 2004.
8 Grzimek, Encyclopedia 1990, 400: “A long-tailed weasel sitting up. In this posture, which is
quite typical of mustelids, the animals stand up on their hind feet and stretch the head high in
order to see and smell ‘what is going on’.” A fine drawing of martens is in Brehms
Tierleben, Kleine Ausgabe, Leipzig 1903, 192.
9 Förstemann, Namenbuch 1900, 1099; Müller, “Wolfhetan” 1967, 202; Kaufmann,
Personennamen 1968, 250; Müller, Personennamen 1970, 73; 125; 128; 161; 191; 212.
10 Indo-European boar-warriors: Alföldi, Early Rome 1965, 275; Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 169f.
Boar-warriors of the Germanic Middle Ages: Beck, Ebersignum 1965; Birkhan, “Germanen”
1970, 457ff.; Chaney, Cult 1970, 120ff.; Höfler, Schriften 1992, 87ff. There is also the name
Ebur-roc, “Boar-Skin Wearer” (Kaufmann, Personennamen 1968, 200).
11 Marstrander, Skipene 1986, 132. For the Oseberg wall-hanging see also this volume, p. 125.
12 Eliade, Shamanism 1964, 460. His suggestion that “the possible influence of shamanic dress
on military armor could profitably be studied in detail” was anticipated by Altheim,
Niedergang I, 1952, 67.
5
NAKED BERSERKS
1 Florus 1.37: “Invicta illa rabies et impetus quem pro virtute barbari habent.” Snorri: Ynglinga
saga 6, quoted this volume, p. 74. The world-wide role of berserks: Speidel, “Berserks”
2002. No-retreat societies: Turney-High, War 1991, 211ff. Sadly, berserks do not rate an
entry in Mallory and Adams, Encyclopedia 1997, though they are recognized on page 632f.
2 Slab: Mallory, Search 1989, fig. 27 and p. 204; Telegin and Mallory, Stelae 1994, 10ff.; 101.
Heat: Saxo 190 and 77.10: “Nimio animi calore”; Eliade, Yoga 1958, 330ff.; Henry, “Furor”
1981, 54; Birkhan, Kelten 1997, 805ff. Hirschlanden statue: see p. 60.
3 Lambert, Fragments 1957–8, 38–51; Tukulti-Ninurta Epic 5.A.31ff.; Machinist, “Epic” 1978,
121, with the Akkadian text; Foster, Muses 1996, 227. Widengren, Feudalismus 1969, 10f.
For throwing off armor see the same epic 4.A.39 (Machinist 111; Foster 225).
4 Beasts: Eliade, Shamanism 1964, 385; an Assyrian warrior demon with human body and
fantastic animal head (Niniveh, about 645 BC): Reade, Sculpture 1999, 30. Storm:
Hurovitz—Westenholz, “LK3” 1990, 5. Snorted: Foster translates Akkadian iziqa (from
zâqu) as “blasted.”
5 Breasted, Records [1906] 1962, vol. 3, paragraph 365.
6 Machinist, “Epic” 1978, 111; commenting on p. 325 on this not being Mesopotamian.

Notes 206
7 See Mayer, Politik 1995, 210. This would explain how they had come across the Euphrates:
Hittite soldiers, attacking Assur. Enrolling the conquered: Malbran-Labat, Armée 1982, 89ff.
Assyria adopting aspects of Hittite politics and warfare: Mayer, Politik 1995, 221ff.; 235f.
8 Widengren, Feudalismus 1969, 14ff. Long-haired, naked Iranians: Widengren, Feudalismus
1969, 17f.; Machinist, “Epic” 1978, 325. Schröder, “Ursprung” 1939, 325–367, 337f.,
Schmökel, Geschichte 1957, 205, as well as Widengren, Feudalismus 1969, 10 and 33, think
of Aryan Mitanni influence.
9 Drews, End 1993, 175.
10 Ibid., 193ff.
11 Cultural (language-) change within a stable population is argued for India by Erdosy, Indo-
Aryans 1995, 23f.—without convincing parallels, though.
12 Sigurd, Volsung saga: “When men come to battle, a fearless heart matters more than a sharp
sword.” See p. 197, this volume.
13 Cavalry: Drews, End 1993, 164ff. Wikander, Vayu 1941, 92ff, suggested that ecstatic cult
forms and warrior styles spread with cavalry warfare from the Aryans to the Thracians and
thence to the Germani.
14 Puhvel, Mythology 1987, 242. Indians: Maruts, see p. 72; Bollée, “Sodalities” 1981; compare
the sixteenth-century berserk Malabar amoks of India, who, like berserks, “stopped neither at
fire nor sword”: Nieuhof, Voyages 1988, 263; Spores, Amok 1988, 16f.
15 Hittites: the guardian carved at the King’s Gate, Hattusas; they shared Indo-European warrior
styles: a Hittite seal shows animal-warriors such as are known in the Veda—see Alföldy,
Struktur 1974, plate 2/1; McCone, “Hund” 1987. Shardana: Abydos relief (Drews, End
1993, 144f; 174f.). Mycenaeans: fresco at Pylos palace (Drews, End 1993, 140f.; 174).
Northern Europe: statuette from Grevenswænge, Denmark (Demakopoulou, Gods 1999, 94).
16 Statuettes: Boardman, Art 1985, 31, the Karditsa statuette, c. 700 BC. Greek art:
Himmelmann, Nacktheit 1990, 29ff. Apollonios, Argonautica 3.1280ff.; Himmelmann,
Nacktheit 1990, 29ff. Aetolians: Thucydides 3.97ff.; Macrobius, Saturnalia 5.18.13ff.
Spartans: Jeanmaire, Couroi 1939, 550ff.; Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 122f.
17 Hector: Iliad 6.100f.; 9.237ff. Teucer: Iliad 8.299 and 311; Plutarch, Agesilaos 34.
18 Polybios 6.25.3–11. Alföldi, Reiteradel 1952, 49–53.
19 Aeneid 11.641–644, cf. 11.666f.; Propertius 4.1.27–28. Dumézil, Mythes 1939, 86, reckons
also Indian Gandharvas and Greek Centaurs among such warriors.
20 Wounds glorious in Republican Rome: McCall, Cavalry 1992, 49.
21 Rome and Italy: Vergil, Aeneid 7.641ff. cf. Silius Italicus, Punica 8.356ff. (bears: 8.523).
Vergil had valuable sources of information, as is clear from the parallels of Polybius 6.22.3
(Walbank, Commentary 1957, 703) and Propertius 4.10.20; Pliny, Natural History 10.16;
Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 81. Flowing hair: Aeneid 11.640ff. Barefooted: Vergil, Aeneid
7.689f. Naked: see e.g. a sixth-century bronze statuette from Umbria: Gersa and Weiss,
Hallstattzeit 1999, plate 14. Open combat, single combat: Livy 1.24ff.; 42.47; Polybius 13.3;
36.9; Demandt, Idealstaat 1993, 250ff. Use of clichés here: Schweizer, Vergil 1967, 16f.
22 Trajan in the great frieze on Constantine’s Arch. Fronto, Principia historiae 14: “caput
…neque vel adversus tela munitum praebere.”
23 True battle gear: Diodore 5.29.2:
. Power belt: see p. 000. Fischer, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 414, sees well that literary
and monumental sources confirm each other, but needlessly finds a contradiction between
glory-seeking and religious belief. Hirschlanden: Cunliffe, Celts 1997, 63; Magdalensberg:
Birkhan, Kultur 1999, 275.
24 Livy 5.37.4: “flagrantes ira cuius impotens est gens.”
25 Polybius 2.29.7f.; cf. Dionysius of Halicarnassus 14.13; Livy 22.46.5; 38.21.9; 38.26.7;
Diodore 5.30.3; see also the naked Celtic warrior of Pergamene art in Rome’s Capitoline
Museum, the bronze statuette of a slinger in Berlin’s Pergamon Museum (Birkhan, Kultur

Notes 207
1999, no. 723) and many other works of art; Fischer, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 414; Davidson,
Myths 1988, 89; Birkhan, Kelten 1997, 867; 960f.
26 Golden wristbands worn in battle by Germanic warriors had the same role: Procopius, Gothic
Wars 3.24.24; Battle of Maldon 160f. Finger-rings: Saxo 58.22.
27 Livy 38.21.9: “gloriosius se pugnare putant” (he also makes much of their rage). Cf. Vergil,
Aeneid 11.646: “pulchramque petunt per vulnera mortem”; McCall, Cavalry 1992, 49.
28 Roman eyes: Plutarch, Marius 23.2. Buri: Speidel, “Buri” 2004.
29 Contra Cichorius, Reliefs II 1896, 175 and 178; a close parallel is the barefooted slinger in
scene 66 of the Column.
30 Aeneid 7.689. Cf. Kershaw, God 2000, 136.
31 Only scenes 36 and 42 (Figure 5.3) show men this young—the same men as here. Compare
youthful Celtic warriors with wild curls: Birkhan, Kelten 1997, 1063.
32 Norden, Urgeschichte 1974, 113.
33 Young: Vergil, Aeneid 1.497; Tacitus, Annals 15.69; Josephus, Jewish War 5.460; Herodian
7.6.2; Panegyrici Latini 3.24.4: “iuvenes cum gladiis…imperatoris maiestatis solemnis
ornatus”; Ammianus 31.13.16: “quidam de candidatis…iuvenis”; Synesius, De regno 18:
; Speidel, Riding 1994, 78. Handsome: (Herodian 4.7.3); Procopius,
Wars 3.2.4; Anecd. 6.2ff.; Zosimus 2.42. Speidel, Riding 1994, 61; 78; 87f.; 120. Tacitus,
Germania 13.3: “electorum iuvenum globo circumdari, in pace decus, in bello praesidium.”
Hairstyle: Speidel, Riding 1994, 144 (Antoninus); 81 (M. Aurelius); 64 (Septimius Severus);
138 (Caracalla). Speidel, Studies II, 1992, 154 (Caracalla).
34 For promotions Trajan preferred : AE
1993, 1547; Speidel, Riding 1994, 78. (The man who set up the inscription very likely
belonged to Trajan’s horse guard: Stoll, Heer 2000, 480f; Speidel, “Lebensbeschreibungen,”
2004.) Germanic looks: Septimius Severus’ chariot leader on the arch at Leptis Magna
(Wrede, Hermengalerie 1972, 71 and fig. 33.3); Herodian 4.7.3; Panegyrici Latini 8.16.4;
Galerius’ arch in Thessaloniki (Laubscher, Gaterinsbozens 1975, 41f.). Gregory of Nyssa,
De creatione hominis II, 292; Synesios, De regno 18. Same age also in India: Bollée,
“Sodalities” 1981, 189.
35 Gabelmann, “Grabmonumente” 1973, 144f.; fig. 12; 197.
36 The fighter’s sword is carved in stone, which is how the Column often treats unusual
weapons, such as the round-bladed lances in scene 5, the curved sword in scene 38 (see
Figure 7.2), the dagger in scene 115, the clubs, and the Dacian sickle-swords. To be sure,
some scenes, such as 24 and 72, also show unremarkable swords. Rossi, Column 1971, 124,
shows a Dacian sword of the Column next to one actually found—both look very much
alike.
37 Rapiers: Raddatz, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 426, fig. 91d and e; 423, cf. 374. Scabbards with
eyelets can, but need not, denote foreign swords, e.g. those on the base of the Column. Such
a scabbard, from the mid-second century, found at Lynhøjgård/ Jutland, is in the Danish
National Museum in Copenhagen (inv. no. 14677); I thank Dr Lars Jörgensen for his kind
help at the museum in June 1999. Scabbards with eyelets, on the Column and in the Roman
army: Weski, Waffen 1982, 18; Waurick, “Rüstung” 1989.
38 Swords as the most heroic weapon: Procopius, Vandal War 2.3–9 and 14; cf. Ammianus
21.5.10. Altheim, Niedergang I, 1952, 117; 121; Davidson, Sword 1962, 44f.; Adler, Studien
1993, 237f. Saxo 41.
39 Cichorius, Reliefs II 1896, 209, rightly states their dress to be the same as that of the bareshirts
in scenes 36 and 40.
40 Northerners seen as tall: see p. 88. Nordic berserks huge: Edda, Hábarðsljód 37–39;
Eyrbyggja saga 25; see p. 74, this volume; Güntert, Geschichten 1912, 12; 23. Italic berserks
huge: Herminius.

Notes 208
41 Polybius 2.28.8 unconvincingly says the Gaesati at Telamon hoped to fight better in the nude
partly because of brambles on the battlefield, cf. Fischer, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 414. Spartan
youths trained without sandals: Xenophon, Lacedaemonians 2.3; Plutarch, Lycurgus 16.6;
Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 122f. Aetolians: Thucydides 3.97ff.; Macrobius, Saturnalia
5.18.13ff.; Aetolians and Spartans both followed old traditions: Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 127.
For the parallel of the Praenestines see Vergil, Aeneid 7.685ff.; Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 184.
Strengthen their will: Plato, Laws 633B (with scholia); cf. Jeanmaire, Couroi 1939, 550ff.
Barefootedness likewise was to toughen Shaka’s Zulu warriors in 1816: Morris, Washing
1965, 47 and 52.
42 British barefoot: Dio 76.12; Herodian, 3.14.5ff. Pedites Singulares Britanniciani on Trajan’s
Column: scenes 66; 70; 72; 108; 113.
43 Polybius 2.28.7f.: Diodore 5.29.2:
. Rome of the Republic: McCall, Cavalry 1992, 49.
44 Livy on the Celts of Asia Minor: see note 25. Tacitus, Germania 7.2: “Hi cuique sanctissimi
testes, hi maximi laudatores: ad matres, ad coniuges vulnera ferunt; nec illae numerare aut
exigere plagas pavent.” See p. 278, note 42, this volume.
45 Heruls: see p. 68; Höfler, Schriften 1992, 285–307.
46 Contra Wolters, “Kampf” 2000, 212, to whom the nakedness of Germanic warriors refers to
their chests only.
47 Saxo 208; see pp. 60 and 78, this volume.
48 Ruler of the world: Strohecker, Germanentum 1965, 19. Campbell, Emperor 1984, 46f.;
146ff. Anywhere on earth: “remotis extractum lustris,” Silius Italicus 3.354f. Cf. Claudian,
In Gildonem, Carmen 15.371ff.: “Quaecumque meo gens barbara nutu/stringitur adveniat:
Germania cuncta feratur/navibus et socia comitentur classe Sygambri.”
49 Trousered tribesmen: scenes 70; 72, cf. 108 and 115. Scenes 66 and 115 could mean barefoot
warriors, but they are bearded and thus perhaps rather the same unit as in scene 108.
50 CIL VI 960=Dessau, Inscriptiones 1892–1916, 294. Senate conservative about troops:
Aurelius Victor, Caesares 3.15. Regular soldiers too resented the emperors’ tribal guards:
Cassius Dio 78.6.4; Zosimus 4.35. Mauri: scene 64; Strobel, Dakerkriege 1984, 68ff.; 151f.
51 HA Probus 14.7: “Sentiendum esse, non videndum, cum auxiliaribus barbaris Romanus
iuvatur.” Ash, Ordering 1999, 67ff.
52 The guards’ Roman looks: Speidel, Riding 1994, 130; native fighting styles: ibid. 26f.;
swimming: ibid. 122f.; Speidel, “Lebensbeschreibungen” 2004. Barbed spears: Speidel,
Riding 1994, 113 and plate 8; Speidel, Denkmäler 1994, no. 83; see also p. 142, this volume.
Cf. Alföldi, Reiteradel 1952, 52.
53 Equites Singulares Augusti and Trajan’s guard in Germany: Speidel, Riding 1994, 38ff. The
Pedites Singulares from Germany, like those from Britain, may have stayed on in Dacia to
become part of the Numerus German(ician)orum in Dacia, together with German
Exploratores: AE 1972, 485–488=IDR III/3, 260–266a. Gostar, “Numerus” 1972; Strobel,
Dakerkriege 1984, 148; Speidel, Studiey II, 1992, 361f. The British Pedites Singulares could
also be called N(umerus) Brit(annicianorum): AE 1967, 412; CIL III, 1396.
54 Pedites Singulares: Speidel, Guards 1978; Pedites Singulares Britanniciani: scenes 66; 70;
72; 108; 113, as I will argue elsewhere; Strobel, Dakerkriege 1984, 101.; 148f.
55 Josephus, Antiquities 19.1.15 (122); Speidel, Riding 1994, 23f.
56 Caesar, Bellum Gallicum 7.13.1; Aurelius Victor, Caesares, 3.14f; Speidel, Riding 1994,
12ff. By the early fourth century Rome even felt a need to stand up to the northerners
culturally and forbade the wearing of long hair or furs in the city: Codex Theodosianus
14.10.4: “Maiores crines, indumenta pellium etiam in servis intra urbem sacratissimam
praecipimus inhiberi” (AD 416).
57 Attack troops: Tacitus, Histories 2.22 (with 2.17); compare 2.32; 2.35; 3.21. Caracalla: Dio
78.3.3; 78.6.1; Herodian 4.7.3; Speidel, Riding 1994, 64ff. Tallest: Herodian 5.4.8. Few

Notes 209
gravestones of Germanic praetorians have come to light, but this is so mainly because
Germani rarely set up gravestones; Speidel, Studies II, 1992, with note 17. Praetorians: Dio
78.37.4; cf. Herodian 5.4.8.
58 Panegyrici Latini 8.16.4f.: “imitatione barbariae…vix unius velaminis repertus indicio.”
59 Constantine’s Arch in Rome, battle at the Milvian Bridge: Speidel, Riding 1994, 161, plate
20; Galerius’ winning guard, as shown on his arch, likewise lacked cuirasses: Meyer,
“Thessaloniki” 1980, 394. Constantine’s troops Germanic: Libanius, Oratio 30.6; Zosimus
2.15.1; Speidel, “Auxilia” 1996, 163–170, 170.
60 Vegetius 1.20: “itaque ab imperatore postulant primo catafractas, dein cassides deponere”;
Sander, “Germanisierung” 1939, 30f.; Buchholz, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 476; Speidel, “Who
Fought” 2000.
61 Ammianus 15.4.11; compare emperor Julian’s tactics criticized by Gregor Nazianzenus,
Oratio 5.13 as . Early Byzantine horse followed the rule Tacitus
reports for Germanic warriors: that it is fine to give ground, so long as one turns back to the
fight (Maurice, Strategikon 3.10.15).
62 Ammianus 20.11.12. Bodmer, Krieger 1957, 120 (on Merovingians): “Nicht die Disziplin
und die reibungslos funktionierende Organisation waren hier aus-schlaggebend, sondern der
kriegerische Schwung.”
63 Emperors now fighting with their own hands: Dio 77.13.2 (Caracalla); Herodian 7.2.6
(Maximinus).
64 Frank: Schopenhauer, Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung, sect. 44. Julian, Misopogon 359c;
. In the mid-fourth century there was again little difference between
northern Gauls and Germani, as people from across the Rhine had been settled in many
places and served in all army units.
65 E.g. Saxo 51; Beck, “Stanzen” 1968, 240ff.
66 Tacitus, Germania 22: “Gens non astuta nec callida”; Strabo 4.4.2
(on Germani and Gauls): ; cf. Much, Germania 1967,
310. Julian: Misopogon 337 C; 352 A; rustic “mores” : 359.
Strabo 4.4.2 and Panegyrici Latini 3.(11).21 likewise praise these
traits. Rives, Tacitus 1999, 212, ignoring Julian, errs in this.
Scheibelreiter, Gesellschaft 1999, 372ff.
67 Julian, Oratio 8 (to Sallust), 252 A; beer: Epigram 1.
68 Ammianus 25.3.3 (to be understood like the “cavendi immemmor” 25.3.6). See Oxford Latin
Dictionary s.v. “obliviscor.” Discussion: Bleckmann, Reichskrise 1992, 384. Ammianus
25.3.6: “iras sequentium excitans audenter effunderet semet in pugnam.” The emperor’s
followers lack cuirasses on Constantine’s Arch in Rome and on Galerius’ Arch in
Thessalonica. Ammianus’ testimony excludes the suicide hypothesis of Wirth, “Perserkrieg”
1978, 490.
69 Julian, Letter to the Athenians 285 B-C; Ammianus 25.4.10: “augebat fiduciam militis
dimicans inter primos.” Ammianus 21.13.13: “ascitis in societatem superbam auxiliaribus.”
The Epitoma de Caesaribus 43.7 criticizes Julian’s military leadership as audax, “recklessly
daring”; Gregor Nazianzenus Oratio 5.13 calls Julian’s tactics .
70 Ammianus 25.3.10: “Incredibile dictu est quo quantoque ardore miles ad vindictam ira et
dolore ferventior involabat, hastis ad scuta concrepans [a Germanic warrior custom] etiam
mori, si tulisset fors, obstinatus.” See p. 73.
71 Ammianus 31.12.16. Feigned flight: see p. 103. Overlooked: Elton, Warfare 1996, 266—see
my review thereof, American Historical Review 1997, 1139.
72 Ammianus 16.12.12: “stridore dentium frendentes.”

Notes 210
73 Paulus Diaconus, Historia Langobardorum 1.20 (MGH, Scriptores rerum Longobardorum
58.33ff.): “Qui sive ut expeditius bella gerent, sive ut inlatum ab hoste vulnus contemnerent,
nudi pugnabant, operientes solummodo corporis verecunda.” Cf. Procopius, Persian War
2.25 (some without shield); Iordanes, Getica 117; Sidonius Apollinaris, Carmina 7.236
(speed); Much, Germania 1967, 139f.; Schmidt, Ostgermanen 1969, 563. Speed mattered,
cf. Caesar, Gallic War, 1.52.3; Dio 38.49.1f. Baring oneself even worked for Romans:
Germanicus took off his helmet in battle (Tacitus, Annals 2.21.2), and while he did not do it
to dare the enemy at least he did it to be seen as brave by his own men. Swords: Maurice,
Strategikon 12.4: .
74 Schumacher, Germanendarstellungen 1935; Gabelmann, “Grabmonumente” 1973, 197;
sestertius of Domitian RIC 278 (drawn with trousers, wrongly it seems, in Schumacher,
Germanendarstellungen 1935, p. 43). Tacitus, Histories 2.11; 2.22; Germania 6: “nudi aut
sagulo leves”; Hamberg, “Germanen” 1936, 33f. Since Latin nudus can mean “half-nude” or
“unprotected”, Tacitus’ passages could also refer to trousered troops (contra Walser, Rom
1951, 85). Much, Germania 1967, 140. Triumphal art: Hamberg, “Germanen” 1936, 32ff.
On the other hand, spite for the loser may show the foe fully naked as on the gravestone of
Dexileos (394 BC) in Athens, where the fallen, naked foe is a Greek who surely did not fight
naked. Foes of Roman horsemen on gravestones in Mauretania and elsewhere are often
naked, too (Schleiermacher, Reitergrabsteine 1984, 155, etc.), very likely also to spite them.
75 Sixth-century Vendel helmet: Arrhenius, Chronology 1983, 44. Duel: Böhner, “Eschwege”
1991, 719, fig. 5. Beck, Bilddenkmäler 1964, 45 and fig. 3. Later, on a Vendel grave 1 foil
(about AD 630), the same hero wears a “kaftan” Beck, fig. 2.
76 Gladiators: Kuhn, “Grenzen” 1956, 68–73; Kuhn, “Kämpen” 1968; see Wenskus,
Stammesbildung 1961, 365.
77 Mail: Even in the first and second centuries AD, some high-ranking Germanic warriors wore
hauberks: Tacitus, Germania 24; Böhme, “Zeugnisse” 1975, 153–217, 214; Adler, Studien
1993, 105. Early Middle Ages: Beowulf (Klaeber, Beowulf 1950, 311 s.v. byrne);
Hildebrandslied (saro, gūđhamo). Hauck, “Germania-Texte” 1982, 195f.; vanishing
nakedness: Hauck, “Dioskuren” 1984, 482–494, 485. Shirt: Saxo 208.25 (cf. Höfler,
Runenstein 1952, 93): “subarmali tantum subucula fretus inermem telis thoracem opposuit.”
Wolters, “Kampf” 2000, 212, sees this trend operating already in the first century AD, but
offers no evidence.
78 Bruce-Mitford, Sutton Hoo 1978, 186. Hauck, “Germania-Texte” 1982, 197. See also the
Woden figurines from Ekhammar and Birka (Ringquist, “Människofigurer” 1969).
79 Ulaid: Gantz, Myths 1985, 252. Irish legends: Güntert, Geschichten 1912, 30ff.; Birkhan,
Kelten 1997, 960f. Tain: Davidson, Myths 1988, 89. When, on the other hand, in the
thirteenth century Irish warriors went into battle bare-chested, bare-footed, and armed only
with axes (Gerald of Wales, History 1982, 101; illustration: Keen, Warfare 1999, 84) they
may have done so, like the ancient British (see p. 42), less to show their reckless daring than
to cross the marshlands more easily.
80 Eastern Europe: Procopius, Wars 7.14.26. Antes and Sklavenoi: Oxford Dictionary of
Byzantium 3, 1991, 1910. Saxo 214f.
81 Iranian Rustam: Schröder, “Indra” 1957, 23ff. The nairs of the sixteenth-century Malabar
coast, cognate to Greek and Latin “Nero,” may also derive from Indo-European
berserks: Speidel, “Berserks” 2002, 287ff. “Quick-tempered Männerbünde” in India: Bollée,
“Sodalities” 1981.
82 Bowmen against berserks: Livy 38.21.8ff. (189 BC); Tacitus, Annals 4.47 (AD 26); Dio
77.14.1 (AD 213); Herodian 6.7.8 (AD 235); Ammianus 20.11.12; Procopius Persian Wars
2.25.
83 Bonded: McNeill, Keeping 1995, 8; 17; 102ff. Songs: Tacitus, Germania 3.1; Ammianus
31.7.11. Dance: see p. 120; Eliade, Return 1954, 28f. Berserkdom’s relation to Woden is

Notes 211
discussed by Höfler, Geheimbünde 1934, 197–206; Ninck, Wodan 1935, 34–67; Höfler,
Runenstein 1952, 330ff.; de Vries, Religionsgeschichte II, 1957, 94ff.; Branston, Gods 1974,
92ff. Shouting: IK 195 (Ulvsunda); Hauck, “Uber-lieferung” 1993, 454ff.; Hauck,
“Polytheismus” 1994, 262ff.
84 Gaesati: Polybius 2.29.6; Aztecs: Salmoral, America 1990, 202; Cendinnen, Aztecs 1991,
117; Hassig, War 1992, 142; McNeill, Keeping 1995, 104. A Maya vase with naked
warriors, holding each other by shoulder and midriff as they dance in a circle, can be seen in
the Pre-Columbian Museum of Santiago de Chile.
85 Cannae: Livy 22.46.6 (on bare-chested Gauls): “ante alios habitus harum gentium cum
magnitudine corporum tum specie terribilis erat.” Saxo 208; this is the shirt of the Armilausi
(p. 64, this volume). Football hooligans, however, are worlds apart from the religiously and
mythologically underpinned berserks who decided the fate of nations, contra Mallory and
McNeill, Archaeology 1991, 170f.
86 Frighten: Dexippus, frag. 26.5. Eyes: Iliad 8.349: (Hector). Even
Romans did this: Tacitus, Histories 3.3: “flagrans oculis”; Caesar, Gallic War 1.39: “acies
oculorum”; Tacitus, Germania 4: “truces et caerulei oculi”; Ammianus 16.12.36: “elucebat
quidam ex oculis furor”; also 21.13.15 (oculorum vestrorum vibratae lucis ardorem);
31.13.10 (furore ex oculis lucente); Beowulf 726f.: “him ofēagum stōd/ligge gelīcost lēoht
unfæger”; Helgaqviða Hundingsbana 1.6: “hvessir augo sem hildingar”; Vohunga saga 42;
Saxo 7.11.1: Olo Vegetus, king of Denmark, frightened the bravest by his stern and flashing
glance. Sturluson, Óláfs saga Helga 226; Bowra, Poetry 1952, 99; Much, Germania 1967,
101; Norden, Urgeschichte 1974, 179; Grönbech, Kultur 1997, 266. Oðin is Báleygr, “flameeyed,”
in Grímnismál 41.4, cf. Hauck, “Auswertung” 1998, 307.
87 Amulets: Hauck, Goldbrakteaten 1985, 75; “Polytheismus” 1994, 262. Ammianus 16.12.46:
“Alamanni, bella alacriter ineuntes, altius anhelabant velut quodam furoris afflatu opposita
omnia deleturi.” Thrasarr: Hauck, “Polytheismus” 1994, 262. Drasulf: Müller,
Personennamen 1970, 140. Snorting: see pp. 41; 88.
88 Saxo 162, with the commentary by Davidson, Saxo 1979.
89 Woden as a shape-shifter: Tunalund bracteate IK 193; Hauck, “Polytheismus” 1994, 262ff.;
also the Daxlanden amulet (Fuchs, Alamannen 1997, 440, fig. 506); Hauck, Goldbrakteaten
1970, 201. Snorri Sturluson, Ynglinga saga 6; compare Woden’s Indian counterpart Rudra as
Vishvarupa: de Vries, Religionsgeschichte II, 1957, 95f.
90 Wound-proof wolf- and bear-warriors: see pp. 43; 45. De Vries, Religionsgeschichte II 1957,
97ff.; Höfler, “Berserker” 1976, 303; Grönbech, Kultur 1997, 274. Balder’s mythical
woundlessness may also have come from his ecstatic dance: Snorri Sturluson, Gylfaginning
49; Hauck, “Auswertung” 1998, 339; Hauck, “Kollierfund” 1998, 518—ecstatic dance,
however, is no contrast to ecstatic fighting: it is its cause.
91 CúChulainn: three times in Briciu’s Feast (Gantz, Myths 1981, 221–255); Birkhan, Kelten
1997, 968ff. (ríastrad). Egil: Fell, Egils saga 1975, 84 (ch. 55). Indo-European and Germanic
warriors: Dumézil, Destiny 1970, 139ff.; Blaney, “Berserkr” 1972, 13; 36–63; Hauck,
“Polytheismus” 1994, 263f. Vedic Indian: Puhvel, Mythology 1987, 51.
92 Wikander, Vayu 1941; Widengren, Feudalismus 1969, 19. Cimbri: Plutarch, Marius 12.
Goths: Ammianus 31.12.17. Woden: see p. 109.
93 For example, Hrólfs saga Kraka 33f.; etc, see also p. 75f, this volume.
94 Ammianus 16.12.49: “Latera, quae nudabat ira flagrantior.”
95 Battle of Maldon 246f.; 253: yrra—mad with anger, 275. Berserk custom: see p. 78. Noretreat
societies: Turney-High, War 1991, 211ff.
96 Visby: Davidson, Sword 1962, 197. Personal despair: ibid. 202.
97 Tacitus, Histories 1.79–2: “Omnis Sarmatarum virtus velut extra ipsos.” Bodies: Dio
38.49.2: .

Notes 212
98 Little to live for: Panegyrici Latini 12.24.2; Ammianus 21.13.13; see p. 194, this volume.
Vergil, Aeneid 11.641; for this as a Roman ideal see Livy 42, 57–60, 2; Caesar, Gallic War
7,52. Great-souled: Josephus, Jewish War 2.377; Iordanes, Getica 24. No trickery: “Caesar”,
African War 73: “Contra Gallos, homines apertos minimeque insidiosos, qui per virtutem,
non per dolum dimicare consuerunt.” Tacitus, Germania 22: “Gens non astuta nec callida.”
Homer, Iliad 7.247f.; Julian: Ammianus 23.5.21. Maurice, Strategikon XI.3.21:
. Settling beforehand: Plutarch, Marius 24; Reichert,
“Mannesideal” 2001, 219. Vandals: Procopius, Vandal War 2.3–9; 2.3.14.
99 Beowulf 679ff.; Battle of Maldon 89.
100 Saxo 207, cf. Höfler, Runenstein 1952, 93f. Blinded: Saxo 109.16ff.; Flateyarbók II, 72;
Kershaw, God 2000, 3ff. Blunted: Hávamál 148; Snorri Sturluson, Ynglinga saga 6. Woden
protects from spears and swords: Hávamál 150; 158.
101 Bleeding: Clayman, Encyclopedia 1998, 414.
102 Roman hints of invulnerability: Vergil, Aeneid 7.692, “quem neque fas igni cuiquam nec
sternere ferro” (Messapus); Pliny, Natural History 2.93.207–208 (Hirpi Sorani), cf. Alföldi,
Struktur 1974, 77f.; 125; 187. Fire: see p. 74.
103 Madness: Iliad 8.299 (Hector) and 21.542f. (Achilles); Strabo 4.4.2. De Vries,
Religionsgeschichte II, 1957, 94ff.; Widengren, Feudalismus 1969, 45f.; Dumézil, Religion
1970, 208–212. Madness of despair: Tacitus, Agricola 37.3: “Quidam inermes ultro ruere ac
se morti offerre.” Panic: Polybios 2.30.4 (Telamon), see p. 60: ; Battle of
the Standards, AD 1138, see p. 73.
104 Wikander, Männerbund 1938, 59f.; Altheim, Niedergang I, 1952, 117; Pokorny,
Wörterbuch 1959, 299ff.; Widengren, Feudalismus 1969, 19; Dumézil, Religion 1970, 211;
Ivančik, “Guerriers” 1993, 326; Neumann et al. Schmuck 1995, no. 46: ais{i}g{a}z. The
unknown nomen agentis from this root might be the Indo-European word for berserk, unless
it is .
105 Dumézil, Mythes 1939, 215 (= Idées romains 1969).
106 Eleventh-century Adam of Bremen 4.26: “Wodan id est furor” (de Vries,
Religionsgeschichte II, 1957, 94). Tacitus, Germania 9: “Deorum maxime Mercurium
colunt.” Mercurii dies became Wednesday, hence Tacitus’ Mercurius meant Woden; Much,
Germania 1967, 171ff.; Höfler, Runenstein 1952, 199ff.; de Vries, Religionsgeschichte II,
26ff.; Timpe, Studien 1995, 114ff. God of poets: Hauck, “Erfinder” 1998, 37; Hauck,
“Auswertung” 1998, 300 (with the image of the seer). A berserks’ poem: p. 76.
107 Menos: Schmitt, Dichtung 1967, 104. Pokorny, Wörterbuch 1959, 726f., cf. .
Identity: Beck, Bilddenkmäler 1964, 12. Eliade, Return 1954, 29
108 Güntert, Geschichten 1912, 24ff.; 30; Davidson, Myths 1988, 87; Blaney, Berserkr 1972,
10f.; contra Fabing, “Going Berserk” 1956; Ekstase, RGA 7, 1989, 91–94.
109 See also Maurice, Strategikon 11.3.15ff.
110 Howlett, Chronicles 1889, 190: “primo ingressu inermes armatis occurrerent istos, animi
virtute pro scuto utentes”; 196: “Videres ut hericium spinis, ita Galwensem sagittis undique
circumseptum, nichilominus vibrare gladium, et caeca quadam amentia proruentem nunc
hostem caedere, nunc inanem aerem cassis ictibus verberare.” Ibid. p. 35: “Scotia…incolas
barbaros habens…citis pedibus levique armaturae confidentes, anxium amarae mortis exitum
pro nihilo ducentes.” Stephen Morillo kindly drew my attention to this battle.
111 Howlett, Chroniles 1889, 162; 192; 197; Bradbury, “Battles” 1992, 191. Compare the flight
of the berserks at Telamon: Polybios 2.28–29.7.
112 Romans: Livy 38.21.8ff.; Herodian 6.7.8 (AD 235).
113 Grágás 7. Weiser, Jünglingsweiher 1927, 44ff.; Blaney, “Berserkr” 1972, 149ff.; see p. 198,
this volume.

Notes 213
114 “Berserk” at first meant a warrior wearing a bear-hood and only later came to denote a mad
fighter without armor as in Ynglinga saga 6; Haraldskvaeði 20f. (dated by von See,
“Berserker” 1961, 131f. to the twelfth century). Höfler, Geheimbünde 1934, 26. Later
tradition still knows that some berserks were wolf-warriors: Grettis saga 3; Haraldskvaeði
20; see p. 37, this volume.
115 Bullies: e.g. Egils saga 64; Grettis saga 19; Hrólfs saga Kraka; Vatnsdoela saga 33; 46;
Laxdœla saga 60 and 62. Güntert, Geschichten 1912, 23; Ninck, Wodan 1935, 61. Christ’s
disciples “sins berserks,” Christ “hinn vngi berserks guðs”: Barlaam saga 58; 196; Blaney,
“Berserkr” 1972, 171ff. Saxo 21.1.
116 Madmen: Morgenblaðið, June 10, 1999: Serb troops in Kosovo behaved “sem gengu
berserksgang.” Berserks: Blaney, “Berserkr” 1972, 1ff. Howling: Grettis saga 19; blooddrinking:
Hrólfs saga 23; Saxo 51; Blaney, “Berserkr” 1972, 80. Huge: Eyrbyggja saga 25;
giants: Edda, Hábarðsljód 37–39; Güntert, Geschichten 1912, 23.
117 Coals: Vatnsdœla saga 46; Saxo 186.25: “Igneos ventri carbones mandare non destitit.”
Shield biting: Asmunds saga Kappabana 8; Ynglinga saga 6; Egils saga 64; Saxo, 186, etc.
Fire: Snorri Sturluson, Ynglinga saga 6; Grettis saga 2; Vatnsdæla saga 46; compare Hrólfs
saga Kraka 28; Eyrbyggja saga 25. Clubs: Edda, Hávamál 156; Sturluson, Skaldskaparmál
44; Egils saga 9; Vatnsdœla saga 46; Helgisaga Óláfs konungs Haraldssonar (Blaney,
“Berserkr” 1972, 85f). Güntert, Geschichten 1912, 12ff.; Höfler, Runenstein 1952, 93ff.
Windpipe: Egils saga 66 (a wolf-warrior trait—see p. 36).
118 Güntert, Geschichten 1912; Blaney, “Berserkr” 1972.
119 Egils saga 9; Snorri Sturluson, Haralds saga Hárfagra 9; Grettis saga 2; cf. Höfler,
“Berserker” 1976, 300; Fell, Egils saga 1975, 177f.
120 Guard: Hrólfs saga Kraka 26; Sturluson, Skaldskaparmál 44; Güntert, Geschichten 1912;
Höfler, Runenstein 1952, 303ff.; Höfler, Schriften 1992, 54; Kuhn, “Kämpen” 1968, 223;
Widengren, Feudalismus 1969, 40; 52ff.; Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 124. See also the Rudriyas,
this volume, p. 16. Twelve: Grettis saga 19; Höfler, “Berserker” 1976, 301f.; see also the
twelve mesedi bodyguards of the Hittite king (Güterbock and van der Hout, Instruction
1991, 7; Beal, Organization 1992, 212ff), the twelve Hittite warrior gods on parade in the
rock shrine of Yazilikaya (Mallory, Search 1989, fig. 2), and the twelve (or so) E-QE-TA
guardsmen of the Mycenaean kings (Deger-Jalkotzy, E-QE-TA 1978, 209). For an Icelandic-
Norwegian warband of twelve, serving in Byzantium and Norway, see Laxdœla saga 73 and
77; twelve as Icelandic companions in a feud: Eyrbyggja saga 18 and 20; Laxdœla saga 14;
twelve as raiding bands: Egils saga 46. Strangely, Ebel, Kriegswesen 2001, claims that
berserks never constituted a king’s war band.
121 Ramses II: Drews, End 1993, 154. Hrólfs saga 24.
122 Egils saga 53 as translated by Fell, Egils saga 1975, 80. Brunanburh: Jones, History 1984,
237.
123 Mycenae: battle scene on a silver vessel, shaft-grave IV; Höckmann, “Lanze” 1980, 278.
Shardana: Drews, End 1993, 144f.; this volume, p. 59. Cf. Asmunds saga Kappabana 4, etc.
124 Asmunds saga Kappabana 4; Missed, somewhat, by Davidson, Sword 1962, 202, and
Blaney, “Berserkr” 1972.
125 Vatnsdæla saga 16; Grettis saga: Blaney, “Berserkr” 1972, 5f.; Saxo 214f.; see also the
archaic Greek statuettes (this volume, p. 59), the Watsch belt buckle (Kimmig,
“Bewaffnung” 1976, 405 with plate 28a), and Alföldi, Reiteradel 1952, 49–53.
126 Hákonarmál 4; Snorri Sturluson, Hákonar saga Góða 30 (and 6), following in part the
translation by Hollander, Heimskringla 1964, 120.
127 For example, Starkad in the fight against Herthjof: Gautreks saga (Genzmer, Edda 1997,
335); Agner (Saxo 2.64); Harold Wartooth at Bråvalla (Höfler, Runenstein 1952, 93). Biarki
in Hrólfs saga Kraka 32; cf. Hildibrand in Ásmundar saga Kappabana 8.
128 Battle at Stamford Bridge: Snorri Sturlusson, Heimskringla, Haralds saga Sigurðarsonar
92f. Fanciful: Jones, History 1984, 412.

Notes 214
129 Tacitus, Histories 4.18; Germania 7, cf. Much, Germania 1967, 162f.; Dio 72.(71).11; Saxo
38.39, also 214; 219; 222, etc., see figure 11.5; Ziegler, “Oðin” 1985, 62. Women warriors
world-wide, see Turney-High, War 1991, 159ff.
130 Eiriks Saga Rauða, 6. Women berserks discussed: von See, “Berserker” 1961, 130.
131 Saxo 26.23f.: “Utraque ferrum comprimi iuvat manu;/nunc bella praeter scuta nudo
pectore/exerceamus fulgidis mucronibus./Ferocitatis fama nostrae luceat;/audacter agmen
obteramus hostium/nec longa nos exasperent certamina/fugaque fractus conquiescat
impetus./Quo dicto geminam capulo manum iniciens, absque periculi respectu reflexo in
tergum clipeo complures in necem egit.”
132 See also Höfler, “Berserker” 1976, 298–304, 302f. Davidson, Sword 1962, 202.
133 Saxo 77.9ff. Fisher, in Davidson and Fisher, Saxo 1979, 83, translates “muniendi corporis”
as “to defend himself,” but it seems “to put on armor” is meant.
134 Saxo 58.18ff.: “Attendite fortes!/Nemo lorica se vestiat interituri/corporis; extremum
perstringat nexile ferrum;/in tergum redeant clipei, pugnemus apertis/ pectoribus, totos auro
densate lacertos:/armillas dextrae excipiant, quo fortius ictus/collibrare queant at amarum
figere vulnus./Nemo pedem referat!” Not to give ground: see p. 103, note 3.
135 See p. 60.
136 See p. 179.
137 Jómsvíkinga saga 16; laws berserk-like: Blaney, “Berserkr” 1972, 143; a list of such laws:
Davidson and Fisher, Saxo 1979, II, 86. Maldon: see p. 70f. Berserks equaled with Vikings:
Grettis saga 19f.
138 Saxo 208. Armilausi and (Danish) Heruli: see pp. 64; 68.
139 Heat conquered by inner heat: Saxo 190; see p. 57, this volume.
140 Saxo 185–187; also 155; 204. Woden: Edda, Hávamál 148; Grendel, Beowulf 804.
141 Sexual rights for outstanding warriors, Germanic: Lactantius, De mortibus 38.5–7; Zosimus
2.42.1; Grettis saga 19 (bringing them home again); Güntert, Geschichten 1912, 9ff.;
Blaney, “Berserkr” 1972, 145f. Indo-European: Dumézil, Destiny 1970, 70f.; Mandelslo,
Reysebeschreibung 1658, 141ff.; Plato, Republic 468b-c. World-wide: Turney-High, War
1991, 158f. Sex for honored guests as a Germanic custom: Rigsthula, with the comment by
Dronke, Edda II 1997, 119. Sons of such unions may have become Weihekrieger: Höfler,
Runenstein 1952; Davidson and Fisher, Saxo 1979, 119.
142 Mallory, Search 1989, 110f. and 272, claims 6,000 years of change, but 2,500 years will do.
143 Contra: Puhvel, Mythology 1987, 196, who suggests “more ordered forms of society”
outlawed them. Yet Eyrbyggja saga 25 shows that the more-ordered Norwegian society, like
Trajan’s Rome, could use berserks, while the less-ordered Icelandic society could not.
6
GHOSTS
1 Vidal-Naquet, Hunter 1986.
2 Thucydides 4.67. Cf. Iliad 9.65–68.
3 Vidal-Naquet, Hunter 1986, 110ff.
4 As brilliantly shown by Vidal-Naquet, Hunter 1986.
5 Ibid.
6 Tacitus, Germania 43: “Apud Nahanarvalos antiquae religionis lucus ostenditur. Praesidet
sacerdos muliebri ornatu, sed deos interpretatione Romana Castorem Pollucemque
memorant. Ea vis numini, nomen Alcis. Nulla simulacra, nullum peregrinae superstitionis
vestigium; ut fratres tamen, ut iuvenes venerantur. Ceterum alii [Harii?] super vires quibus
enumeratos paulo ante populos antecedunt, truces insitae feritati arte ac tempore
lenocinantur: nigra scuta, tincta corpora; atras ad proelia noctes legunt ipsaque formidine

Notes 215
atque umbra feralis exercitus terrorem inferunt, nullo hostium sustinente novum ac velut
infernum aspectum; nam primi in omnibus proeliis oculi vincuntur.” Boehlich, “Exercitus”
1929; Timpe, Studien 1995, 126–131; Neumann, “Harii” 1999.
7 Ancient British night attacks: Tacitus, Agricola 26; Roman: Tacitus, Histories 3.22f.;
Byzantine: Maurice, Strategikon 9.2; North African: Nicolaus Damascenus, Ethnon
Synagoge 24 (according to Boehlich, “Exercitus” 1929, 66); Pacific, African, and American:
Turney-High, War 1991, 107–123. Night attacks impractical, impossible, and hence Tacitus
not to be believed: Timpe, Studien 1995, 130, note 78.
8 A relevant parallel from India are the Marut gods, wild young warriors, “who adorn
themselves like women,” Ŗg-Veda 1.85.1 (Maurer, Pinnacles 1986, 130). Indo-European
warriors who look like women: Ammianus 23.6.80 and Widengren, Feudalismus 1969, 20.
For the Maruts see Widengren, Feudalismus 1969, 42f.; Bollée, “Sodalities” 1981, 180f.;
Bremmer, “Suodales” 1982, 137; 143f.; Kershaw, God2000, 98–101; 201–239- Indo-
European priests in women’s garb: Wenskus, “Religion” 1994, 222–5.
9 Timpe, Studien 1995, 130: Jungmannschaft. Women’s dress as a punishment for unmanly
warriors (Zosimus 3.3.5, cf. Ammianus 25.1.7–9) reflects the same custom; compare
Oettinger, Eide 1976, 11; 75f.
10 A discussion of the matter, proposing to read “Lugii”: Timpe, Studien 1995, 128; best:
Neumann, “Harii” 1999
11 Benveniste, Vocabulaire 1969, vol. 1, 112–113. McCone, “Hund” 1987; Kershaw, God
2000. See also Jørgensen, Spoils 2003, 173.
12 For youth groups forming new tribes see p. 23; Bremmer, “Suodales” 1982, 145. Tribes
named after armies: Bollée, “Sodalities” 1981, 180f.; Neumann, “Harii” 1999.
13 Tacitus says of them that in strength they “go before” (= lead) the other tribes, which
suggests that they belonged to them; contra: Timpe, Studien 1995, 128, taking antecedunt to
mean “im Gegensatz stehen,” but see e.g. Caesar, Civil War 3.108.4: “Ex duabus filiabus ea
quae aetate antecedebat.” They thus match Tacitus’ list, a little further up, of the strongest of
the Lugii, which begins with the Harii.
14 Höfler, Geheimbünde 1934, 99ff.; 163ff.
15 Timpe, Studien 1995, 126ff.
16 Black: Boehlich, “Exercitus” 1929, 51; Army of the dead: Völuspá 52. Gainsaying Tacitus
without source or argument: Wolters, “Kampf” 2000, 210.
17 Hrólfs saga Kraka 33: “These dead are now the grimmest to fight against.”
18 Boehlich, “Exercitus” 1929, 56 (“Urtyp des irdischen”); Höfler, Geheimbünde 1934, 44;
166f.; 246ff.; Widengren, Feudalismus 1969, 56; Benveniste, Vocabulaire 1969, 112f.;
Kershaw, God 2000, 41ff.
19 For the Wild Host see now, with welcome documentation, Insley, “Herelingas” 1999;
Kershaw, God 2000, 38–40. After a review of research over the last sixty years Kershaw
(God 2000, 23) concludes that it is no longer possible to dismiss Höfler’s findings in his
Geheimbünde. Contra: Timpe, Studien 1995, 131. Other Germanic warrior styles: see p.
123f.
20 Stealth and youth of wolf-warriors: see p. 15; Papuan spies too were “ghost people” (Turney-
High, War 1991, 111). Worship of Dioscures: Wagner, “Dioskuren” 1960; compare the
“night-Dioscure with the black goat-skin” of the Athenian ephebes: Jeanmaire, Couroi 1939,
578f.
21 Such as the Gaulish Petrucorii, who, as their name says, had four koryos troops.
22 Black-clad Iranian and Indian youthful Männerbünde: Widengren, Feudalismus 1969, 35;
51f.; Bollée, “Sodalities” 1981, 173 and 185; Kershaw, God 2000, 202f. According to
Kershaw, God 2000, 42, the painted British warriors of Caesar (Gallic War 5.14) are also
bodying forth dead ancestors. While there is abundant evidence for Indo-European
Jungmannschaften (Widengren, Feudalismus 1969; Vidal-Naquet, Hunter 1986, 122;
McCone, “Hund” 1987; Kershaw, God 2000), there is less, yet some evidence for them

Notes 216
among ancient Germani: see Springer, “Kriegswesen” 2001, 341; contra: Castritius,
“Jungmannschaften” 2000.
7
CLUB-WIELDERS
1 Africans: Buchholz, Kriegswesen 1980, 334 and plate 25.b. Silius Italicus 3.277. Polynesians:
Turney-High, War 1991, 13. Indians: Catlin, Letters 1973, I, 236. Drawbacks: Turney-High,
War 1991, 12; but see 16: “Wherever too much armor is observed, one will find that the
enemy fights with very effective war clubs.”
2 Carneiro, “Warfare” 1990, 197 (Fiji); Whitehead, “Snake-Warriors” 1990, 151 (Caribs).
3 Heroic use: Schröder, “Indra” 1957; Widengren, Feudalismus 1969, 34; 61; Wikander, Vayu
1941, 33 and 125; Bhima, Kŗsaspa: Puhvel, Mythology 1987, 83 and 111. Kernosevka relief:
Mallory, Search 1989, 176. Names: Mallory and Adams, Encyclopedia 1997, 112.
Mycenaeans: Buchholz, Kriegswesen 1980, 334. Greeks: Iliad 7.140f.; Herodotus 1.59-
Scythians: Valerius Flaccus 6.83: “Scytharum puer e primo torquens temone cateias.”
4 Silius Italicus, Punica 2, 153ff.: “atque illi non hasta manu, non vertice cassis, sed fisus latis
umeris et mole iuventae agmina vastabat clava nihil indigus ensis. Exuviae capiti impositae
tegimenque leonis.” Club and lion skin turn this Saguntine priest of Hercules into an image
of the god himself. Silius’ sources of information: Norden, Urgeschichte 1974, 165ff.
5 Caesar, Gallic War 1.39–1: “ingenti magnitudine corporum”; 4.1.9: “immani corporum
magnitudine”; African War 40.5: “mirifica corpora Gallorum Germanorumque”; Velleius
2.106: “iuventus immensa corporibus”; Columella, Re Rust. 3.8: “Germaniam decoravit
altissimorum hominum exercitibus.” Josephus Jewish War, 2.377; Suetonius, Caligula 47;
Tacitus, Germania 4; 20.3; Histories 4.14.1; 4.29; 5.14.2; Diodore 37.1.5; Appian 4.1.3;
Strabo 4.4.2; 7.1.2; Dio 38, 35; Manilius 4.715; Mela 3.26; Florus, Epistles 1.38; Dio 38.35;
38.46.2; 38.49; Herodian 7.1.12; Dexippus frg. 26.6; Libanius Oratio 18.70; Ammianus
16.12.47: “grandissimis illi corporibus freti”; Vegetius 1.1.4; Eunapius VI, frg. 37
(Blockley); Sidonius, Carmen 12 (Burgundians as seven-foot giants); Zosimus 3.7.1;
Iordanes, Getica 24. Skeletons: Fuchs, Alamannen 1997, 332f.
6 Other scenes: 36; 38; 66; 70. Nail-studded: Cichorius, Reliefs II, 1896, 120; knotted, not nailstudded:
Petersen, Kriege 1899, 29. Cichorius, Reliefs II, 1896, 114, saw the right hand of
the kneeling foe “in unverständlicher Weise vor die Brust gelegt.”
7 Cichorius, Reliefs II, 1896, 120 and 311, and Richmond, Army 1982, 20, suspend judgement
on the nationality of the club-man, but for Germani being outstandingly tall see Figures 7.1
and 21.1 also note 5. Similar bare-chested Germans in scene 108: Cichorius, Reliefs III,
1900, 193. Relaxed: Panegyrici Latini 4.23.2: “Certum est enim pro negotii modo animosam
esse virtutem—in parvis prope ad securitatem remissa.”
8 Alföldi, Reiteradel 1952, 52; Wiedengren, Feudalismus 1969, 61f.
9 To Lepper and Frere, Column 1988, 108 and 334, they are “clibanarii.”
10 Like the Buri ambassador’s club in scene 9 of the Column. Throwing clubs: Kolias, Waffen
1988, 173f.
11 Artist curved the sword: Cichorius, Reliefs II, 1896, 191. The swords of the clubmen in
scenes 24 and 36 (Figures 7.1, 0.2) seem also curved if one may judge from the angle of
their hilts. The bare-chests in scene 108 of the Column, belonging to another tribe, have
straight swords.
12 Aeneid 7.730–732; 741: “Teutonico ritu soliti torquere cateias.” The Abellians, like the clubmen
on Trajan’s Column, also had swords: Aeneid 7.743. Knowledge of the Teutons may
have come to Vergil from narratives of their inroads in Italy seventy years earlier. Further
combinations of club and curved sword are spun out of Vergil by Silius Italius (Punica

Notes 217
3.277ff.; 8.581) for North African and Italic warriors. Practical: heavily mailed Sarmatian
horsemen, once brought to the ground, were finished off with light swords: levi gladio,
Tacitus, Histories 1.79.4.
13 For example, Maurice, Strategikon XI.3. Overlooked as a Roman casualty: Cichorius, Reliefs
II, 1896, 311; Gauer, Untersuchungen 1977, 98, n. 144.
14 Tribesmen: scenes 24; 38; 40; 66; 70; 72; 115: six times in the first war, once in the second.
In the second Dacian War (AD 105–106) Germanic tribal warriors, very likely club-men,
turn up twice, though they seem to belong to other tribes. Scenes 108 and 115 show oriental
archers different from those of the first war (Cichorius, Reliefs III, 1900, 193), hence
Germani for the second war in these scenes may also be different. They certainly are so in
scene 108, since they wear cloth caps (Cichorius, Reliefs III, 1900, 193) and, by analogy,
perhaps also in scene 115. Cloth caps are worn by ambassadors whom Trajan met in AD
105, hence they may denote a nation on the lower Danube such as the Bastarnae. One of the
ambassadors lacks the cloth cap—and so do the Germanic fighters in scene 115. The barechests
of scene 108, sandwiched between bowmen and stone-throwers, may be club-men,
though they bear straight swords.
15 Caesar, Gallic War 8.37: “sine ullo paene militis vulnere.” Tacitus, Annals 14.23.3:
“hostilem audaciam externo sanguine ultus est,” cf. Tacitus, Annals 3.39; Germania 33.1;
Alföldi, “Grenzscheide” 1950, 40. Tacitus, Agricola 35: “Ingens victoriae decus citra
Romanum sanguinem bellandi.” Battles fought by auxiliaries only: Trajan’s Column, scenes
24 and 38; Walser, Rom 1951, 39; Hanson, “Agricola” 1991, 1772; Lepper and Frere,
Column 1988, 70.
16 Tacitus, Germania 33. Claudian, Gothic War 579f.; Sixth Consulate 218–222; Cameron,
Claudian 1970, 369ff.; Dewar, Claudian 1996, 202f.
17 Cf. Saxo 66.20ff.: Thor with his club smashes shields.
18 Herodotus 7.69; Burns, Persia 1962, 25ff. For the efficiency of Nubian bowmen see the Abu
Simbel reliefs: Curto, Art 1971, 9, and L’Orange, Bildschmuck 1939, 45–47.
19 Figures 7.3, 9.1, 17.3, 21.1; Agathias 2.5.3; Schumacher and Klumbach,
Germanendarstellungen 1935.
20 One other foe, in the top center, also lacks a shirt, but he has a garment slipping off his left
shoulder.
21 Plutarch, Marius 23.3; Seneca, De ira 1.11.3.
22 Domaszewski, “Pferdeschmuck” 1888; Schumacher and Klumbach, Germanendarstellungen
1935, p. 29, no. 114; Hamberg, “Germanen” 1936, 36.
23 Club, not sword, contra Schumacher and Klumbach, Germanendarstellungen 1935, and
Hamberg, “Germanen” 1936. Came to Dacia: Speidel, Studies II, 1992, 90ff. Tallest most
dreaded: Herodian 7.1.12; most vulnerable: Herodian 6.7.8; 7.2.2; cf. Dio 77.14.1.
24 Dio 78.38.4. Compare IK 65 (Gudbrandsdalen) where Woden throws aside his spear to close
in with the sword.
25 Germanic Herkules: Tacitus, Germania 3.1; Norden, Urgeschichte 1974, 172ff. Amulets:
Werner, “Herkuleskeule” 1964; Wenskus, “Religion” 1994, 205ff. Singing: Tacitus,
Germania 3.1: “Fuisse apud eos et Herculem memorant, primumque omnium virorum
fortium ituri in proelia canunt.” Fighting the god’s battle: Eliade, Return 1954.
26 Tacitus, Germania 45.2: “Aestiorum gentes…quibus ritus habitusque Sueborum …rarus
ferri, frequens fustium usus.”
27 Ammianus 31.7.12: “Barbarique ut reparabiles semper et celeres, ingentes clavas in nostros
conicientes ambustas, mucronesque acrius resistentium pectoribus illidentes, sinistrum cornu
perrumpunt.”
28 Thompson, Early Germans 1965, 117, hesitatingly: “which may or may not have been an
impromptu weapon.” Agathias 2.6.3 remarks on the easy repair of FrankishAlamannic
weapons. Weapon repairs in Germanic armies: Steuer, “Kriegswesen” 2001, 366.
29 Tacitus, Annals 4.51.1: “Manualia saxa, praeusta sudes, decisa robora iacere.”

Notes 218
30 Silius Italicus, Punica 8.584: “inrasae robora clavae.” Much might be learned about
Germanic clubs if one could be certain that the wooden implements found at the Great Moor
near the Teutoburg Forest (Pieper, “Holzfunde” 1999) are weapons.
31 Servius, auct. Aeneid, 7.741: “quas in hostem iaculantes lineis quibus eas adnexuerant,
reciprocas faciebant.” Hawaiians: Arning, Notizen 1931, 57; Summers, Culture 1999, 102ff.
32 Studies: Steuer, “Phasen” 1970; Raddatz, “Bewaffnung” 1976 and “Germanen” 1985;
Weski, Waffen 1982; Adler, Studien 1993. Contra: Weski, “Material” 1994 (overlooking
clubs). Efforts: Capelle, “Erkenntnismöglichkeiten” 1982, 287.
33 Isidore, Etymologiae 18.7.7: “Clava est qualis fuit Herculis, dicta quod sit clavis ferreis
invicem religata; et est cubito semis facta in longitudine. Haec et cateia, quam Horatius
caiam dicit. Est enim genus Gallici teli ex materia quam maxime lenta, quae iacta quidem
non longe propter gravitatem evolat, sed quo pervenit vi nimia perfringit; quod si ab artefice
mittatur, rursum redit ad eum qui misit. Huic meminit Vergilius dicens (Aen. 7.741):
‘Teutonico ritu soliti torquere cateias.’ Unde et eos Hispani et Galli tautanos vocant.”
Birkhan, Kelten 1997, 1137, takes cateia for a spear, but both Servius and Isidore describe it
as a club. (Servius’ term “hasta” if consistency was intended, may mean something like a
stick.)
34 Visigoths, Franks: Werner, “Bewaffnung” 1968, 102. Neither “cateia” nor “tautanus” have a
compelling etymology, though: Werner, “Bewaffnung” 1968, 102; Birkhan, Kelten 1997,
1137.
35 No return: contra Hauck, “Bildzeugnisse” 1980, 569. Indo-European belief: e.g. Ovid,
Metamorphoses 7.684; de Vries, Religionsgeschichte II, 1957, 127. Oberdorla: Behm-
Blanke, “Seeheiligtum” 1958, 265; the full excavation report is now forthcoming. I thank the
Landesarchäologin, Dr Sigrid Dušek for kind information and a photograph. Werner,
“Bewaffnung” 1968, 102, first matched Isidore’s passage with the Oberdorla find. Mjöllnir:
Skáldskaparmál 35; Simek, Dictionary 1993, 219.
36 See also scene 78. Strobel, Dakerkriege 1984, 61.
37 Zosimos 1.53.2:
.
38 Two gravestones are sometimes said to show Roman soldiers with clubs: CIL V 7717
=Dessau, Inscriptiones 1892–1916, 2560=Iscr. It. IX, I, 93 of Cuneo/Italy, and a stone in the
Museum at Smyrna published by Pfuhl and Möbius, Grabreliefs 1977, 296. Both portray not
clubs but staff-slings (fustibali): see Vegetius III. 14 with the commentary by Milner,
Vegetius 1993, 91 . It is true that a Spartan policeman, perhaps with his club, had joined
Aurelius Verus in his Parthian war (Premerstein, “Untersuchungen” 1911), but town
policemen surely could not decide big battles such as the one at Hemesa.
39 Brought by Aurelian from the West: Ritterling, “Legio” 1924, 1344. Altheim, Niedergang II,
1952, 428, suggests cohors XII Palaestinorum which, however, was stationed in Syria Coele
that was part of the Palmyrenian Empire and not “outlandish.” Germanic recruits, but
provincial names: Zosimus 1.52.3, calling Aurelian’s Raetian and Norican field detachments
“Germanic troops.” Field detachments named after provinces: Zosimus 1.52.3; Speidel,
“Chattan War” 1987, 234; Speidel, Studies II, 1992, 77 and 416f.
40 Experience: Herodian 8.1.3 (surely also with Maximinus in Germany the year before);
Nesselhauf, “Inschriften” 1937, 103. Franks under their duke Pompeianus in the battle of
Hemesa: Hieronymus, Chronicle 263 Olymp. a 2 (Helm 222). As Persia fielded fully
armored catafracts against Rome by the early third century, the Germani who helped Rome
against the Persians at the time may have fought with such clubs (Maricq, Orientalia 1965,
49; Bivar, “Equipment” 1972, 276f.).

Notes 219
41 Birkhan, Kelten 1997, 1131, holds mattea to be the Celtic word for “club”; it may have been
borrowed into Latin like gladius or lancea, and thus be used to describe Germanic troops.
Mattiarii: Notitia Dignitatum, Or. 6.2=42; Grosse, Militärgeschichte 1920, 62; Hoffmann,
Bewegungsheer I, 1969, 218–222. On mattiobarbuli as clubs see Kolias, Waffen 1988, 173ff.
42 Panegyrici Latini 4.23.4: “Catafractos equites, in quibus maxime steterat pugnae robur, ipse
tibi sumis.” Constantine had little choice in this as catafracts typically went for the enemy
commander: Nikephoros Ouranos, Tactica 57.145ff. (McGeer, Dragori’s Teeth 1994, 104).
Panegyrici Latini 4.24: “Catafractos equites…clavis adoriuntur, quae gravibus ferratisque
nodis hostem vulneri non patentem caedendo defatigabant ac maxime capitibus afflictae,
quos ictu perturbaverant, ruere cogebant. Tunc ire praecipites, labi reclinis, semineces
vaccillare aut moribundi sedilibus attineri, permixta equorum clade impliciti iacere, qui
reperto sauciandi loco passim equitem effreni dolore fundebant.” Panegyrici Latini 12.6.3–4;
Nixon and Sayler-Rodgers, Praise 1994, 368f. (well translated).
43 Libanius, Oratio 59.110 (overlooked by Nixon and Sayler-Rodgers, Praise 1994):
.
44 No reference to clubs is given in Bishop and Coulston, Equipment 1993.
45 Widengren, Feudalismus 1969, 61; Buchholz, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 479.
46 Prestige: Werner, “Herkuleskeule” 1964; Capelle, “Erkenntnismöglichkeiten” 1982, 280.
Hauck, “Bildzeugnisse” 1980, 575, sees in IK 39 Woden holding a club, but it may be a
jewel.
47 Clubs against berserks: see Chapter 5, note 117. Höfler, Runenstein 1952, 93. Saxo 220.6f.:
“Regem arietavit in terram, ereptamque cadenti clavam in ipsius caput detorsit proprioque
eum gestamine interficit.” Höfler, Runenstein 1952, 89ff.; 100f.; Ninck, Wodan 1935, 24ff.
48 Giants: Saxo 13.14ff. Shatter: Beowulf 2683ff. with Klaeber’s commentary.
49 Konghell club: Stephens, Handbook 1884, 15f.: hauf thuükü f(ur) h(ari)= “headman of the
army.” The club as token of command in the ancient Near East: Buchholz, Kriegswesen
1980, 334f. No longer clubs: Thorne, “Clubs” 1982, though he misses the berserk meaning.
50 Norman leaders bestowed shields with shield devices as gifts of honor: Höfler, Schriften
1992, 126f. For their descent from Norway, see Snorri Sturluson, Haralds saga Harfagri
241. Woden: Ordericus Vitalis, Historia Eccl. 8.17 (the Harlekin legend); Daxelmüller,
“Geheimbünde” 1998, 563; Wenskus, “Religion” 1994, 226.
51 MGH Legum Sectio II, Tomus 7, p. 172, Cap. I, 170.17 (Capitulare Aquisgranense);
baculum used here is the same as on the Bayeux Tapestry, a striking, not a throwing club.
Johanek, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 464; Capelle, “Erkenntnismöglichkeiten” 1982, 281.
52 Contamine, War 1984, 73 and fig. 7. Rogers, Age 1999, 137.
53 Stiklastad: Heimskringla, Óláfs saga Helga 226. Hastings: Bayeux tapestry; Thompson,
Early Germans 1965, 117.
54 Saxo 66.20ff.
8
WIELDERS OF HUGE SPEARS
1 Thera: Cunliffe, Prehistory 1994, 229; Höckmann, “Lanze” 1980, 276. Hector: Iliad 6.318;
8.794; Drews, End 1993, 192. Romans: Vergil, Aeneid 12.293f.; Statius, Thebaid 4.5–7.
Hasta trabalis: see p. 139, note 29. Gauls: Diodore 5.30.4 and Lucanus, Pharsalia 1.423.
2 Scandinavian rock-drawings: Cunliffe, Prehistory 1994, 324f.; Woden: de Vries,
Religionsgeschichte II, 1956, 44ff.; 60. De Vries, Religionsgeschichte II, 1956, 46, has the
same image for Val Camonica in northern Italy.

Notes 220
3 Tacitus, Germania 6.1: “Ne ferrum quidem superest, sicut ex genere telorum colligitur. Rari
gladiis aut maioribus lanceis utuntur.”
4 Spears found: Adler, “Hastae” 1995. Use of iron: Much, Germania 1967, 128ff.; Raddatz,
“Bewaffnung” 1976, 371; Rives, Tacitus 1999, 135ff. The suggestion (Wenskus,
“Bewaffnung” 1976, 459) that Tacitus’ lanceae maiores were javelins with thongs lacks
proof.
5 Tacitus, Annals 1.64.2: “procera membra, hastae ingentes ad vulnera facienda quamvis
procul.” Tacitus, Histories 5.18: “Immensis corporibus et praelongis hastis fluitantem
labantemque militem eminus fodiebant.” See also Annals 2.14.2: “enormis hastas”; 2.21.1:
“praelongas hastas”; Histories 2.88.3: “ingentibus telis”; Ovid, Ex Ponto 3.4.97: “damnatas
hastas”; Lucanus 6.259: “longis Teutonus armis”; Dio 38.49.2. Haas, “Germanen” 1943/44,
104; Much, Germania 1967, 136f. Adler, “Hastae” 1995, errs in assuming that Tacitus in his
Histories and Annals describes long spears as a “weit verbreitetes Element der germanischen
Bewaffnung.”
6 See Tacitus, Annals 2.21.1.
7 Dio 38.49.2; Tacitus, Annals 2.14.3: “Primam utcumque aciem hastatam, ceteris praeusta aut
brevia tela.” 2.14.2: “Immensa barbarorum scuta.”
8 Propaganda: Wenskus, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 458. Compare Much, Germania 1967, 136f.
9 Contra: Adler, “Hastae” 1995.
10 Tacitus, Annals 2.2.1: “cum ingens multitudo artis locis praelongas hastas non protenderet,
non colligeret, neque adsultibus et velocitate corporum uteretur.”
11 Graves: Adler, “Hastae” 1995, 100. Fought in front: Tacitus, Germania 7: “Duces exemplo
potius quam imperio, si prompti, si conspicui, si ante aciem agant, admiratione praesunt.”
12 Tacitus, Histories 2.88: “Ingentibus telis horrentes.”
13 Strabo 4.4.3 (about Celts and Germani). Iliad 16.140 about Greeks. The biblical Book of
Samuel (1.17.2; 2.21.15ff.) says the same about Philistines.
14 Widukind 1.9: “armati longis lanceis,” quoted after Wenskus, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 459. The
Goths under Belisar in Mesopotamia attacked with long spears in dense array and the
Persians, rather than await it, turned to flight: Procopius, Persian Wars 2.18.24
cf. Iordanes, Getica L.261: “Contis pugnantem Gothum”); but perhaps
these Goths were horsemen. For the fourth century see Eusebius, Vita Constantini 4.7.2,
whose seem to be weapons of Germanic allies.
15 Snorri Sturlusson, Óláfs saga Helga, 214.
16 Laxardal saga 21; Grettis saga 19. It is not a barbed spear, as translated by Faulkes, Sagas
2001, 113; the krokar are likely to be the “Aufhalterhaken” of Carolingian winged spears.
17 To be thrown: Steuer, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 443.
18 Óláfs saga Helga 227.
9
SHIELD CASTLES
1 Vidal-Naquet, Hunter 1986, 122.
2 Iliad 4.334; 4.347; 13.130ff.; 15.618ff.; 16.211ff.; 17.354ff.; cf. Dio 38, 49f.: . Kuhn,
Edda II, 1968, 58f. Celtiberians: Livy 40.40.2–8; McCall, Cavalry 1992, 60f.
3 Ground: Tacitus, Histories 5.15; 5.18; Annals 1.64; Herodian 7.2.5; etc. Tactical retreat,
ambush: Tacitus, Annals 1.63; Frontinus, Strategemata 2.3.23; Ammianus 16.12.23 and
16.12.27. Feigned flight: Caesar, Civil War 1.44; cf. 4.4.4. Tacitus, Germania 6.4; Annals
1.56; 1.63; 2.11: “fugam simulantes,” cf. 2.14; Herodian 6.3.7 (contrast with Persians);
Maurice, Strategikon 4.3.30ff. Maurice, Strategikon 11.3, does not contradict this as he may

Notes 221
refer to exceptional vows made by warriors on the battle field (Battle of Maldon 246 and
275; Saxo 58.25; Bjarkamál as by Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla, Óláfs saga Helga 208).
For typical tactics of light troops compare Caesar, Civil War 1.44 (on Spanish Lusitani):
“Genus erat pugnae militum illorum ut magno impetu primo procurrerent, audacter locum
caperent, ordines suos non magnopere servarent, rari dispersique pugnarent, si premerentur,
pedem referre et loco excedere non turpe existimarent”; also Smail, Warfare 1956, 78.
4 Germanic tactics: Hamberg, “Germanen” 1936, 39ff.; Altheim, Niedergang II, 1952, 135f.;
Adler, Studien 1993, 249; Wolters, “Kampf” 2000; Springer, “Kriegswesen” 2001. Roman
line: Vegetius 3.20.1: “Una depugnatio est fronte longa quadro exercitu, sicut etiam nunc et
prope semper solet proelium fieri.” Germanic columns: Tacitus, Germania 6.3: “Acies per
cuneos componitur”; Histories 2.42.2: “catervis et cuneis concurrebant”; Ammianus
16.12.20: “Densantes semet in cuneos.” Delbrück, History 1990, 39ff.; Miltner,
“Waffenübung” 1954; Beck, “Fylking” 1998.
5 Ariovistus: Caesar, Gallic War 1.51: “Generatimque constituerunt paribus intervallis,
Harudes, Marcomannos, Triboces, Vangiones, Nemetes, Sedusiones, Suebos.” To form a
shield-castle during battle was possible, practical, and useful, for Maurice prescribes it as
well: Strategikon 12.B16.83ff. Caesar, Gallic War 1.52, “At Germani celeriter ex
consuetudine sua phalange facta impetus gladiorum exceperunt. Reperti sunt complures
nostri milites qui in phalangas insilirent at scuta manibus revellerent et desuper vulnerarent”;
Dio 38.49f.; Florus 1.45.13; Orosius 6.7.8f. Contra: Adler, Studien 1993, 250. Shield
buckles: Servius ad Aen. 11.284: “calcato umbone adversarii se in hostilem clipeum erigit
miles et ita contra stantis vulnerat terga.”
6 Cichorius, Reliefs II, 1886, 325ff.
7 Other Roman auxilia could, of course, also form shield walls (Arrian, Ectaxis), but here they
are advancing in step and combined with a club-wielder.
8 Double shields needed against bowmen: Maurice, Strategikon 12.B16.30ff.; 12.B16.53ff.
9 Ammianus 16.12.37: “Frontem artissimis conserens parmis.” The word parma to Ammianus
means a non-Roman shield (cf. 29.5.39; 31.5.9), hence he speaks of the Alamanni: “Obnixi
genibus quidam barbari peritissimi bellatores hostem propellere laborabant.” The passage is
sometimes translated as if the Alamanni pushed the enemy with their knees. A controversy
whether legionaries did this: Wheeler, “Firepower” 2001, 181, against Goldsworthy, Army
1996, 229.
10 Indo-European: Iliad 2.362f.; Much, Germania 1967, 161. Tribes of distinct warrior styles:
Iordanes, Getica 261: “Cernere erat contis pugnantem Gothum, ense furentem Gepida, in
vulnere suo Rugum tela frangentem, Suavum pede, Hunnum sagitta praesumere, Alanum
gravi, Herulum levi armatura aciem strui.”
11 Tacitus, Histories 4.23.2: “Batavi Transrhenanique, quo discreta virtus manifestius
spectaretur, sibi quaeque gens consistunt”; 4.16.12: “Canninefates, Frisios, Batavos propriis
cuneis componit”; 5.16: “Civilis haud porrecto agmine, sed cuneis adstitit.” Tribally aligned
army of Odoacar: Iordanes, Romana 344; cf. Höfler, Runenstein 1952, 341. Roman warcraft
likewise used competition among units to bring out the best in each: Dio 38.47.1; Tacitus,
Agricola 21; 26.2; 36.2; Josephus, Jewish War 5.502f.; 6.142; Speidel, Riding 1994, 32;
42f.; 60; 73 (note 90); Speidel, “Auxilia” 1996, 166; Stoll, Integration 2001, 35ff. Walser,
Rom 1951, 95, doubts columns as “barbarian” battle formations (a “topos”); as he offers no
proof, it is a case of Walser against the evidence.
12 Tacitus, Germania 6.3: “Quos ex omne iuventute delectos ante aciem locant”; ibid. 7.1:
“Duces si prompti, si conspicui, si ante aciem agant, admiratione praesunt.” Cf. ibid. 31.3:
“Haec prima semper acies.”
13 Tacitus, Histories 2.42.2: “catervis et cuneis concurrebant”; Annals 2.45: “vagis incursibus
aut disiectas per catervas.” Drungi: Vegetius 3.19.2: “Circumveniantur tui a multitudine
hostium aut a vagantibus globis, quos dicunt drungos.” Tempting to single combat: Altheim,

Notes 222
Niedergang I, 1952, 121f.; Schmitt, “Buccellarii” 1984, 155. Compare Roman antesignani
and Óláfs saga Helga 226, quoted on p. 109.
14 Tacitus, Annals 2.21.1: “Velocitate corporum uteretur.”
15 Ammianus 15.4.11: “non iusto proelio, sed discursionibus”; Tacitus, Annals 2.45: “vagis
incursibus aut disiectas per catervas” (while with the Chatti, Tacitus, Germania 30.3, finds
“rari excursus”). Thin lines of daring attackers: Maurice, Strategikon 12.A7. 17–19.
16 Alacritas: Ammianus 16.12.46. Tellingly, Gallienus, that most forward-looking of all Roman
emperors, cultivated alacritas on his coins: Alföldi, Weltkrise 1967, 12ff.
17 Tacitus, Germania 7.1: “Si ante aciem agant, admiratione praesunt.” Ammianus 16.12.49
(Strassburg, AD 367): “Exiluit itaque subito ardens optimatium globus, inter quos
decernebant et reges”; Speidel, “Who Fought” 2000.
18 Tacitus, Histories 4.20.3 (Bonn AD 70); Herodian 6.7.8 (mid-third century AD).
19 Tacitus, Histories 4.20.3: “in cuneos congregantur, densi undique et frontem, tergaque ac
latus tuti; sic tenuem nostrorum aciem perfringunt.” Maurice, Strategikon 12.B16.20ff, says
how it is done: all bunch up toward the middle; clearly this is not a wedge. Strassburg:
Ammianus 16.12.44: “nexam scutorum compagem.” Cunei are good for guarding the rear,
just as Tacitus says: Maurice, Strategikon 12.A7.22f.
20 Ammianus 17.13.9: “Exercitus…desinente in angustum fronte, quem habitum caput porci
simplicitas militaris appellat, impetu disiecit ardente”; Vegetius 3.19.5 (quoted in note 22).
Beck, “Fylking” 1998.
21 Tacitus, Histories 3.5; 3.21 on the Suebian kings Sido and Italicus: “cum delectis popularium
primori in acie versabantur.” Ammianus 16.12.24, on the Alamannic king Chnodomar:
“anteibat cornu sinistrum.” Vegetius 3.19.5–7 in the fifth century, when the Roman army
was at its most Germanic, recommends the boarhead formation to Roman leaders:
“Secundus dux in media acie ponitur peditum, qui eam sustentet et firmet. Hic fortissimos
pedites et bene armatos de illis superfluis [reserves=guards] secum habere debet, ex quibus
aut ipse cuneum faciat et hostium aciem rumpat aut, si adversarii cuneum fecerint, ipse
forficem faciat, ut cuneo illi possit occurrere.” Champion wolf- and bear-warriors and
berserks: see pp. 33; 36; 44; 75.
22 Vegetius 3.19.5: “Cuneus dicitur multitudo peditum, quae iuncta cum acie primo angustior
deinde latior procedit et adversariorum ordines rumpit, quia a pluribus in unum locum tela
mittunur.” Engström, “Chieftains” 1997, 249- There is nothing “unsinnig” here, contra
Springer, “Kriegswesen” 2001, 340.
23 Tacitus, Histories 2.22, see p. 115, this volume. Ammianus 21.12.13: “Quidam elatis super
capita scutis ut pugnaturi levius.”
24 Tacitus, Histories 4.23.2: “invasere vallum, adpositis plerique scalis, alii per testudinem
suorum.”
25 Caesar, Gallic War 1.52; Frontinus 1.45.13.
26 Tacitus, Histories 2.22.1; 4.23.2.
27 Tacitus, Germania 31.3: “Haec prima semper acies.”
28 Large shields: Tacitus, Annals 2.14.2: “Immensa barbarorum scuta.” Large shields of
Constantine’s Germanic guard: Constantine’s Arch, Rome, siege of Verona scene.
29 Maurice, Strategikon 12.B16.30ff.: “They march in the ‘fulkon’ if…the soldiers in the front
line lack armor or greaves.”
30 Tacitus, Germania 6.4; Lex Salica 30.6. Greek parallels: Much, Germania 1967, 152f.; Stoll,
“Gemeinschaft” 2002, 170f. Roman parallels: Plutarch, Caesar 16; Dio 49.16.1. The custom
is a functional necessity; contra: von See, “Germane” 1981, 44f.
31 Libanius, Oratio 59.130.
32 Roman warfare adopted: Strobel, “Chattenkrieg” 1987, 429; Demandt, Staatsformen 1995,
545, but Tacitus, Germania 30 does not call the Chatti “gelehrsame Schüler der Römer”;
also Jahn, Bewaffnung 1916, 213; Stoll, Heer 2001, 269–279. Tacitus, Annals 2.45 refers to
an exception, see Velleius 2.109. Right: Miltner, “Waffenübung” 1954; Schmidt,

Westgermanen 1970, 361; Raddatz, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 425. Sixth-century BC formation
tactics in Europe north of the Alps: Kimmig, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 392f.
33 Examples of the planlessness cliché: Norden, Germania 1974, 112ff. Dio 38.45
even Maurice, Strategikon 4.1.17 speaks of
“Lack of discipline”: see note 3.
34 Caesar, Gallic War 1.39.1; 1.52; Tacitus, Annals 2.45.2; Velleius Paterculus 2.109.2, cf.
Wolters, “Kampf’ 2000. Goths: Dexippos 26.5 (Jacoby 1923 IIA, 100, p. 469):
2.5, …
Notes 223
Alamanni: Ammianus 16.12.37, “peritissimi bellatores.” Franks: Agathias
.
35 Caesar, Gallic War 1.40.8: “magis ratione et consilio quam virtute.”
36 Wackernagel, Volkstum 1956, 128; 132, borne out by passages stressing Germanic battle
discipline, such as Caesar, Gallic War 1.39–1; Velleius 2.109.2, and Tacitus, Germania 30.2.
37 Schlüter and Wiegels, Rom 1999. The same strategy again in AD 15 and 16: Tacitus, Annals
1.63; 2, 19–21; Franks, Rom 1980, 273–6.
38 Turney-High, War 1991, 227f. Intense Germanic social organization: Lund-Hansen,
Himlingøje 1995, 385–416.
39 Cassiodorus, Varia 10.26.3; Reichert, Lexikon I, 1987, 552. Beck, Ebersignum 1965, 42.
40 Strategikon 12.A7.52ff.
41 Roman legionaries also put their shoulders against their shields when in a defensive line
(Arrian, Ektaxis 26)—this is a technical necessity. Our point here is that Germanic warriors
did it too, and did it well.
42 Maurice, Strategikon 12.B16.34–38. Germanic guards are shown holding shields overlapping
to their bosses (though not in two rows above each other) on the southwest side of
Theodosius’ Obelisk in Byzantium.
43 Folc: Battle of Maldon 22.241; 259; Beck, “Fylking” 1998; Maurice, Strategikon 11.3.17–
18:
.
44 He says as much of the “Scythians”: Strategikon 11.2.50–55.
45 Arrian, Tactica 36.1, prescribes this even for Roman horsemen. Saxo 43 and 65. Cf. Tacitus,
Histories 5.18: “Absumptis quae iaciuntur.”
46 Shield bosses (often silvered or gilt): Böhme, Grabfunde 1974, 111–114. Shields mattered
greatly for pushing the enemy over: Tacitus, Agricola 36: “Batavi…ferire umbonibus.”
Ammianus 31.5.9: (Goths) “Barbari…globos irrupere nostrorum incauti et parmas oppositis
corporibus illidendo obuios hastis perforabant.” But the spiked bosses with which some
Germani fitted their shields hardly served as a weapon; contra: Raddatz, “Bewaffnung”
1976, 425. Adler, Studien 1993, 247, rightly states that Roman soldiers likewise shoved with
their shields.
47 Finds of staff-bosses: Raddatz, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 374; 425; 429 (silver-plated, from
Sweden); 432f. (graves of leaders); 435. Steuer, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 440, records rich
graves with hard-to-handle, big shields that seem well suited for front-line warriors in the
“fylking,” cf. Tacitus, Annals 2.11.2: “immensa barbarorum scuta”; also Wenskus,
“Bewaffnung” 1976, 461. Lothair: Ms. Lat. 266, Folio 1, verso, Bibliothèque Nationale,
Paris.
48 Third-century legionaries: Speidel, “Framework” 2002, 137, fig. 7.12. A Roman
phalangarius in the mid-third century: Journal of Roman Studies 1988, 101.

Notes 224
49 Förstemann, Namenbuch 1900, 551; see also ibid. Folchildis and Folcwig, “She/He of the
Shield-Castle Fight.” Marching in step: Ammianus 19.6.5; figure 10.1; Franks, Rom 1980,
54.
50 Eyvind’s poem: Beck, “Stanzen” 1968, 247f. Likewise “Hjadnings’ storm” meant “battle” to
Snorri Sturluson: Skáldskaparmál 62. Woden, wind, and storm: Höfler, Geheimbünde 1934,
323–341; Dumézil, Destiny 1970, 138; see p. 70, this volume. Compare Dante, Inferno 22.2
and the 1988 “Desert Storm” campaign. Warrior-style spirit: Maurice, Strategikon 11.3.13;
Bodmer, Krieger 1957, 120 (on Merovingians): “Nicht die Disziplin und die reibungslos
funktionierende Organisation waren hier ausschlaggebend, sondern der kriegerische
Schwung.”
51 Taught: Beck, Ebersignum 1965, 47. Discipline and ecstasy: Höfler, Schriften 1992, 17–28.
52 Agathias 2.8; Saxo 31 and 207f. One cannot brush Agathias aside as does Springer,
Kriegswesen 2001, 340, for the whole, detailed description of the battle at Capua is based
upon the Frankish–Alamannic wedge formation; for Saxo 31 and 207f. see the commentary
by Davidson and Fisher, Saxo 1979. Continuity of the boar-head formation: Beck,
Ebersignum 1965, 41–47; Beck, “Fylking” 1998; Müller, “Tiersymbolik” 1968, 204. Array
by tribes: Maurice, Strategikon 11.3.15: ; Wenskus, Stammesbildung 1961,
497.
53 Maurice, Strategikon 11.3.17, does not contradict this when he says the Germanic front line
is even and packed, for the boarhead-wedge may be formed from the first line of a shield
castle as in Vegetius 3.19.5f. and Óláfs saga Helga 226, cf. Davidson and Fisher, Saxo 1979,
120ff.
54 Hloðsquiða 32ff.: scialdborg; Snorri Sturlusson, Óláfs saga Helga 226; Saxo 43 and 65 with
the commentary by Davidson and Fisher, Saxo 1979, II, 53.
55 Battle of Maldon: “bæd hyra randan rihte heoldon” (20); wihaga (101f.); scyldburgh
(242); bordweall (211). Much, Germania 1967, 142; Evans, Lords 1997, 38. The shield wall
at Hastings, as seen on the Bayeux tapestry, thus had a long tradition.
56 Anglo-Norman forces used it: Morillo, Warfare 1994, 157. On the attack, in the crusades:
Hollister, Institutions 1962, 132ff.
57 Óláfs saga Helga 226.
10
CHANTING
1 Freeze: Ammianus 17.12.5: “stratisque plurimis quorum gressus vinxerat timor”; Ammianus
31.7.13: “Lapsorum timore impeditorum secando suffragines.” Samoan war songs: Turney-
High, War 1991, 218. Songs heighten feelings: Plato, Laws 812C. With a song of thunder
and wind, the young Marut warriors of the Ŗg-Veda awakened Indra’s prowess, Ŗg-Veda
1.85.2 and 10; they are heaven’s singers (5.57); Zimmer, Leben 1879, 294 (thunder, wind:
Maurer, Pinnacles 1986, 131; 133). Greek Dioscuri inventing the war song: Estell, “Poetry”
2000, 21ff. To the ancient Irish the battle gods invented the war-cry: Birkhan, Kelten 1997,
642. Raising the spirit: Plutarch, Marius 19; Valerius Maximus 2.6.2; Tacitus, Germania 3:
“Accendunt animos.”
2 Plato, Republic 411; Ammianus 22.4.6.
3 Tacitus, Annals 1.65: “laeto cantu aut truci sonore”; sonor is battle cry: Annals 14.36.
4 Hercules among Germani: Tacitus, Germania 3.1: “Fuisse apud eos et Herculem memorant,
primumque omnium virorum fortium ituri in proelia canunt”; for the concept “first of all
men” see my paper “Lebensbeschreibungen” 2004. Spartans: Norden, Urgeschichte 1974,

Notes 225
172ff.; Valerius Maximus 2.6.2 (quoted in Chapter 11, note 3). Arminius: Tacitus, Annals
2.88.3.
5 Goths: Ammianus 31.7.11: “Barbari vero maiorum laudes clamoribus stridebant inconditis”;
Jordanes, Getica 43: “cantu maiorum facta modulationibus citharisque canebant”; Sidonius,
Epistles 1.2.9; Demandt, Staatsformen 1995, 546. Fun: Julian, Misopogon 337c. Cantator:
Maurice, Strategikon 2.19; the word means “singer,” not “herald” pace Dennis, Strategikon
1984, 34.
6 Ludwigslied 48: “Sang was gisungen, wig was begunnen.” Stiklastad: Sturluson, Óláfs saga
Helga 208; Hastings: Much, Germania 1967, 57.
7 Mythical battle: Eliade, Return 1954, 28f. Sigmund: Beowulf 875ff., see p. 33ff., this volume;
Hercules and Siegfried: Norden, Urgeschichte 1974, 172ff.; Much, Germania 1967, 76.
Beowulf: Hauck, “Germania-Texte” 1982, 209ff.; cf. Hauck, “Bilddenkmäler” 1976, 590ff.
Thor, Woden and Balder as forebears: Simek, Dictionary 1993, 26ff. (Bældæg and Balder);
374 (Woden).
8 Birds: Iliad 3.2–6; Aeneid 7.705; Caesar, Civil War 3.92; Julian, Misopogon 337c. To Vergil,
and hence to Tacitus, Germania 3 (though not to von See, “Germane” 1981, 53) this
betokened admirable manhood; Klingner, Virgil 1967, 515ff.; Norden, Urgeschichte 1974,
115ff. Even Jesus as warlord of heaven sounded like a crane: Papyrus Bodmer 29, 295
(Kessels, “Vision” 1987, 340f.); cranes as warriors animals: Stoll, Integration 2001, 570;
Brunetto Latini, in his Tesoro, says “Cranes fly in squadrons like horsemen riding to battle.”
Silence is not always Roman nor shouting always “barbarian”: Caesar, Civil War 3.92.
Arcadians: Xenophon, Anabasis 6.1.11. Paian: Polyaenus 3.9.8, see Stoll, “Gemeinschaft”
2002, 168.
9 Thracians: Xenophon, Anabasis 6.1.6 (the Sitalkas); Plato, Seventh Letter 348h; Tacitus,
Annals 4.47: “more gentis carminibus et tripudiis persultabant.” Iberians: Diodor 5.34.5 and
Silius Italicus 3.344–349: “misit dives Gallaecia pubem/barbara nunc patriis ululantem
carmina linguis/nunc pedis alterno percussa verbere terra/ad numerum resonas gaudentem
plaudere caetras.” Gauls: Livy 5.37.8 (387 BC) “Truci cantu, clamoribusque variis, horrendo
cuncta compleverant sono”; Livy 38.17.3f.: “cantus ineuntium proelium et ululatus et
tripudia.” Polybios 2.29–6 (at Telamon):
. Britons: Tacitus Agricola 33
10 Tacitus, Germania 3.1: “carmina quorum relatu quem barditum vocant, accendunt animos,
futuraeque pugnae fortunam ipso cantu augurantur; terrent enim trepidantve prout sonuit
acies, nec tamen voces illae quam virtutis concentus videntur. Affectatur praecipue asperitas
soni et fractum murmur, obiectis ad os scutis, quo plenior et gravior vox repercussu
intumescat.” Cf. Histories 2.22: “cohortes Germanorum, cantu truci”; 4.18.3: “virorum
cantu…sonuit acies”; 5.15 “cantu aut clamore”; Annals 1.65.1: “laeto cantu aut truci
sonore”; Annals 4.47 (quoted in Chapter 11, note 5); Norden, Urgeschichte 1974, 115ff.;
Much, Germania 1967, 76ff.; 308; Beck, “Barditus” 1976; Rives, Tacitus 1999, 123f. The
Romans did not call such songs “classica” pace Beck, “Feldgeschrei” 1994, 305.
11 Romans: Livy 4.37.9; Plutarch, Crassus 27; Tacitus, Histories 4.18.3; Arrian, Ektaxis 25.
Much, Germania 1967, 76ff. Caesar: Dio 38.45.5. Decius: Dexippos, frag. 26.6 (Jacoby,
FGH II, A, no. 100, p. 469). Ammianus 16.12.43: “Cornuti enim et Brachiati usu proeliorum
diuturno firmati eos iam gestu terrentes barritum ciere vel maximum. Qui clamor ipso
fervore certaminum a tenui susurro exoriens paulatimque adolescens ritu extollitur fluctuum
cautibus illisorum”; Vegetius 3.18.9: “Clamor autem, quem barritum vocant, prius non debet
attolli quam acies utraque se iunxerit.” Heusler, “Dichtung” 1913, 499: “Kein blosses Hurra,
sondern ein sinnvolles Feldgeschrei metrischen Taktes,” cf. Óláfs saga Helga 226.
12 Ammianus 31.7.11: “Romani quidem voce undique Martia concinentes a minore solita ad
maiorem protolli, quam gentilitate appellant barritum, vires validas erigebant.” Cf. 21.13.15.

Notes 226
Learned from the Auxilia Palatina: Hoffmann, Bewegungsheer I, 1969, 135–137. Crashing
waves: see p. 44, note 24; also Helgaqviða Hundingsbana in fyrri 28.5f.
13 Edda, Lokasenna, Introduction: “þá skóko æsir skioldo sína ok œpðo at Loka”: “Then the
Aesir shook their shields and yelled (howled or snarled like wolves see Hárbarðzlióð 47; or
like the wind see Álvissmál 20: œpi) at Loki.” Davidson and Fisher, Saxo 1979, II, 77.
14 Arwidsson, Valsgärde 1977, fig. 115; Hauck, “Kulte” 1980, 482. Eagle: Hauck,
“Polytheismus” 1994, 270.
15 Much, Germania 1967, 82f. Contra Lund, “Germania” 1991, 1879f. and 2027–2031,
ignoring the Valgarde foils. If part of the barritus was a swooshing sound as described by
Ammianus, it did indeed increase when thrown back by a shield, cf. Much, Germania 1967,
82f.
16 Act out a ritual: Hauck, “Polytheismus” 1994, 270, with reference to the picture stone from
Stora Hammars I/Lärbro, Gotland, and the bracteate amulet from Ullerup Mark-A, IK 2, 358.
For the “Vogelschlange” as Woden’s headgear see also the Kitnæs amulet (IK 92); Hauck,
Goldbrakteater 1985, 101–103.
17 Hávamál 156; Neckel, Edda 1962, 43. Tacitus rightly stressed: contra Norden, Urgeschichte
1974, 122. Contra: Lund, “Germania” 1991, 1879f. and 2027–2031, though the Edda
passage proves beyond cavil that the effect of sound on the mind worked, and was known,
not only among Greeks and Romans but, naturally, also among Germanic warriors.
11
WAR DANCES
1 Outdo: McNeill, Keeping 1995. Ecstasy brought forth: Meschke, Schwerttanz 1931, 4f.
Ecstasy defined, divine: Beck, “Ekstase” 1989; Hauck, “Polytheismus” 1994, 262. Mangaia:
Turney-High, War 1991, 166, cf. Eliade, Shamanism 1964, 458ff. War dances of American
Indians: Catlin, Letters 1973, II, 242; McCone, “Hund” 1987, 126; Aztecs, Mayas: see p. 69-
Dance against fear: Turney-High, War 1991, 215, also 41 (Jibaro); Whitehead, “Warfare”
1990, 152 (Caribs). Pompeius Trogus 11.5.10.
2 De Vries, Religionsgeschichte I, 1956, 443; cf. Alföldi, “Cornuti” 1959, 177. Emboldening:
McNeill, Keeping 1995. Indo-European war dances: Kershaw, God 2000, 83ff. Tukulti-
Ninurta Epic 5.4.31ff. (Foster, Muses 1996, 227). Atharva Veda 12.1.41: “The earth (=
battlefield) on whom mortals sing and dance with various noises, on whom they fight, on
whom the drum ‘speaks,’ may that earth rout my rivals, rid me of my foes”; for help with
this I thank my teacher Walter Maurer. Wikander, Männerbund 1938, 67ff.; Widengren,
Feudalismus 1969, 20; Dumézil, Religion 1970, 211; Birkhan, “Germanen” 1970, 549ff. On
the Maruts see also McCone, “Hund” 1987, 120f.; Kershaw, Gods 2000, 98ff.; 213ff. A
Hittite bearskin dancer: Mallory and Adams, Encyclopedia 1997, 56. Iranians: Curtius Rufus
7.10.4; Widengren, Feudalismus 1969, 20f.; 56ff.; drums frenzied Iranian warriors: Altheim,
Niedergang I, 1952, 46f. Ecstasy to ward off danger: Düwel, Runenkunde 2001, 13.
3 Hector: Iliad 7.241: , for which see Beck,
“Stanzen” 1968, 249; Estell, “Poetry” 2000, 37ff. Greeks: Scholia to Pindar, Pythian 2.69;
Jeanmaire, Couroi 1939, 596ff.; Wheeler, Hoplomachia 1982; Estell, “Poetry” 2000, 21ff.;
Spartans: Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 630f.; Valerius Maximus 2.6.2: “Eiusdem ciuitatis
exercitus non ante ad dimicandum descendere solebant quam tibiae concentu et anapaesti
pedis modulo cohortationis calorem animo traxissent, uegeto et crebro ictus sono strenue
hostem inuadere admoniti.” Quintilian, Institutions 1.17f.: “haec chironomia, quae est (in
nomine ipso declaratur) lex gestus, et ab illis temporibus heroicis orta sit et a summis
Graeciae viris atque ipso etiam Socrate probata, a Platone quoque in parte civilium posita

Notes 227
virtutum,—Lacedaemonios quidem etiam saltationem quandam tamquam ad bella quoque
utilem habuisse inter exercitationes accepimus.”
4 Plato, Laws 803; 813; Athenaeus, Deiphosophistae 628f., aptly commented by Athenaeus
when he says that dance “shows discipline and care for the body.” Stoll, Gemeinschaft 2002,
166 (with literature).
5 Thracians, Peace: Xenophon, Anabasis 6.1.5; North American Indians: Catlin, Letters 1973,
II, 242. Battlefield: Tacitus, Annals 4.47: “more gentis cum carminibus et tripudiis
persultabant.” Gallaecians: Silius Italicus 3.444ff.: “misit dives Callaecia pubem/barbara
nunc patriis ululantem carmina linguis/nunc pedis alterno percussa verbere terra/ad numerum
resonas gaudentem plaudere caetras”; Norden, Urgeschichte 1974, 165.
6 Alpine tribes: Livy 21.42.3; Celtiberians: Livy 23.26.9 and 25.17.4: “armatum exercitum
decucurisse cum tripudiis Hispanorum motibusque armorum et corporum suae cuique genti
adsuetis.”
7 Polybius 2.97.7; is dance, not just gestures as translated by W.R.Paton, Polybius, vol.
I, Cambridge, Mass. 1967, 315. Appian, Keltika 8; Livy 38.17.4: “Gallorum ineuntium
proelium ululatus et tripudia”; Tacitus, Agricola 33. Alföldi, “Cornuti” 1959, 177.
8 Salii: Livy 1.20.4; Quintilian, Institutions 1.18: “neque id veteribus Romanis dedecori fuit:
argumentum est sacerdotum nomine ac religione durans ad hoc tempus saltatio et illa in
tertio Ciceronis de Oratore libro verba Crassi, quibus praecipit, ut orator utatur ‘laterum
inclinatione forti ac virili non a scaena et histrionibus, sed ab armis aut etiam a palaestra’.”
Bloch, “Danses” 1958; Latte, Religionsgeschichte 1960, 115; Beck, “Stanzen” 1968, 248f.;
Dumézil, Religion 1970, 211; McCone, “Hund” 1987, 133; Kershaw, God 2000, 91ff.
Romans and dance: Horsfall, “Romulus” 1971, 1114f. Mars Gradivus was not their leader in
the dance (pace Beck, “Stanzen” 1968), for praesul in late antiquity is not just a dance leader
but any kind of leader. Hector: Iliad 7.241; Arcadians: Xenophon 6.1.11.
9 Saxo 75.5ff.
10 Funeral: Hauck, “Ludus” 1951, 15; Hauck, “Herrschaftszeichen” 1954, 43; cf. Livy 25.17.4.
Victory: Saxo 100; cf. Hauck, “Herrschaftszeichen” 1954, 43. Speech: Tacitus, Histories
5.17.3; Ammianus 15.8.15. Banner: Ammianus 27.1.2. Gloat dances known the world over:
Turney-High, War 1991, 143f. Exulting: Ammianus 23.5.24f.
11 Plutarch, Aemilius Paulus 12( ).
12 Plutarch, Marius 19.4; Much, Germania 1967, 84; tribal names were still shouted in the
Middle Ages: Hauck, “Lebensnormen” 1955, 186–223, 210f.; Beck, “Feldgeschrei” 1994;
the custom occurs also among the Aztecs in AD 1516, who shouted their cities’ names as a
war cry: “Y los capitanes de ellos, que venían delante …apellidando sus provincias decían
‘Mexico, Mexico, Temixtitan, Temixtitan’” (Cortés, Carta-Relación 2000, 229).
13 Sugambri: Tacitus, Annals 4.47: “Sugambrae cohortis…cantuum et armorum tumultu
trucem.” Raised: Alföldy, Hilfstruppen 1968, 84f.
14 Similar war-cry shouting matches: Plutarch, Marius 19.4; Suda E 2310; Sturluson, Óláfs
saga 226.
15 Tacitus, Histories 2.22 (referring, it seems, to the troops of 2.17: Batavi and Transrhenani, cf.
1.61.2): “temere subeuntes cohortes Germanorum, cantu truci et more patrio nudis
corporibus super umeros scuta quatientium.” For the term “cohortes” in Tacitus see Kraft,
Alen 1951, 38; Callies, “Truppen” 1964, 151f. A Batavian shield castle (“testudo”) attacking
a wall: Tacitus, Histories 4.23.2.
16 Tacitus, Histories 5.17.3: “ubi sono armorum tripudiisque (ita illis mos) adprobata sunt dicta,
saxis glandibusque et ceteris missilibus proelium incipitur”; Hauck, “Germania-Texte” 1982,
188f. Not part of the war dance is the clashing of weapons for approval, for which see
Ammianus 15.8.15 etc. Vagdavercustis: de Vries, Religionsgeschichte II, 1957, 325. Iranian
Sogdians also sang to the tripudium: Curtius Rufus 7.10.4.

Notes 228
17 Ammianus 16.12.43: “eos iam gestu terrentes.” Penguin edition 1998, 112 (W. Hamilton):
“bearing”; Seyfahrt, Ammianus Marcellinus 1975, 197: “Haltung”; Loeb edition 1971, 287
(J.C. Rolfe): “gestures.” Dance: Oxford Latin Dictionary, p. 764 s.v. gestus, 1.b.
18 Ammianus 29.5.38: “Conglobatis suis scutaque in formidabilem moventibus gestum.”
Ammianus uses the word gestus again for the war dance in 14.2.17 and 18.7.7 (see note 24).
19 Ammianus 16.12.44: “Nexa scutorum compago, quae nostros in modum testudinis tuebatur.”
20 Ammianus 31.12.12: “Horrendo fragore, sibilantibus armis, pulsuque minaci scutorum,
territi barbari.”
21 Swaying: Meschke, Schwerttanz 1931, 4; dance, song, and music inseparable in Greek
customs: Plato, Laws 816A; Estell, “Poetry” 2000, 22; 61. Germanic speech: Frye, Anatomy
1957, 278f. (for “English” substitute “Old Germanic”).
22 Themistius, Oratio 1.2a ( ); Julian 11b; Ammianus 16.5.10: “artemque
modulatius incedendi per pyrricham concinentibus disceret fistulis”; cf. 18.7.7 (see note
24)); 19.6.9. Greek pyrrhic war dance: Plato, Laws 815A; Strabo 10.3.8; Wheeler,
“Hoplomachia” 1982; Estell, “Poetry” 2000, 35ff. Trajan apparently did not take up the
advice by Dio Chrysostom (2.60–61) to institute war dances for honoring the gods and
training the soldiers.
23 Julian: Ammianus 24.6.10: “Cristatis galeis corusci Romani uibrantes qui clipeos uelut pedis
anapaesti praecinentibus modulis lenius procedebant”; cf. Tacitus, Histories 5.17.3. Tripudium,
“three-foot step”: Spartans: Valerius Maximus 2.6.2 (see note 3). Fifes also incited
the tripudium of Apuleius, Metamorphoses 8.27.
24 Ammianus 18.7.7: “Sabinianus…nihil formidans, more vitae remissioris fluxius agens,
militari pyrrice sonantibus modulis pro histrionicis gestibus in silentio summo delectabatur.”
The accusation is a cliché, see Herodian 7.8.5. “War dance” at the non-military pyrrhica of
the time was indeed for stage actors (Robert and Robert, Bulletin 1987, 481), but Ammianus
is at pains to say it was a pyrrhica militaris, for which see Historia Augusta, Hadrian, 19–8;
Horsmann, Untersuchungen 1991, 147. Spartan festivals: Estell, “Poetry” 2000, 74ff.
25 Vegetius 2.23.5: “insurgere tripudiantes in clipeum rursusque subsidere, nunc gestiendo
provolare cum saltu nunc cedentes in terga resilire.” The translation by Milner, Vegetius
1993, 57, ignores tripudiare and gestire. Goths: Ammianus 31, 59; “Parmas suppositis
corporibus illidendo”, as the manuscripts have it.
26 Germanic lack of discipline: Stoll, Heer 2000, 269ff.; but see also Caesar, Gallic War 1.36.7:
“exercitatissimi in armis”; 39: “incredibili virtute atque exercitatione in armis.” For their
“planlessness,” see Chapter 9, note 33.
27 Also shown on Möne collar Holmquist Gods 1960.
28 Saxo 156.6: “militaris pompae tripudium”; cf. Hauck, “Herrschaftszeichen” 1954, 43. Foot:
Ammianus 24.6.8; see p. 153, this volume. Morillo, Warfare 1994, 162 (though with
reference to Roman legions rather than barritus-chanting Germanic foot).
29 Cf. Almgren Felszeichnungen 1934; Ninck, Wodan 1935, 214f.; Cunliffe, Prehistory 1994,
324f. Date: 1500–300 BC.
30 If they are not twin-dragon headgear, the two “horns” would be wolf ears rather than bull
horns (contra Altheim, Literatur 1948, 300; Niedergang I, 1952, 116), as suggested by
similar figures (musicians) from Kalleby, Tanum, in Almgren Felszeichnungen 1934, 8, fig.
7.
31 Ninck, Wodan 1935, 214f.; Altheim, Literatur 1948, 299f.; de Vries, Religionsgeschichte II,
1957, 44f.
32 Tacitus, Germania 24.1: “Genus spectaculorum unum atque in omni coetu idem: nudi
iuvenes, quibus id ludicrum est, inter gladios se atque infestas frameas saltu iaciunt.
Exercitatio artem paravit, ars decorem, non in quaestum tamen aut mercedem: quamvis
audacis lasciviae pretium est voluptas spectantium.”

Notes 229
33 That war dances could be spectacles to delight crowds is suggested by Ammianus 16.5.14 (as
taxes were low): “Cum alacritate et tripudiis laetabantur”; cf. Livy 21.42.2.
34 Tacitus, Germania 6; Adler, Studien 1993, 239; Evans, Lords 1997, 38f.
35 Werner, Zierscheiben 1941, seeing here hunting scenes; Storgaard, “Aristocrats” 2003, 116f.,
recognizes dancers and offers a good photograph.
36 Hauck, Goldbrakteaten (I.3) 1985, no. 7; see also ibid. III.2, p. 129 and I.1, pp. 134ff., and
Hauck, “Überlieferung” 1993, 442ff.
37 For the shape of the hitherto overlooked belt compare Balder on IK 40, and the Björkö
statuette: Ringquist, “Människofigurer” 1969. The naked tenth-century BC warriors from
Grævenswange, Denmark, also wear helmet and belt (Demakopoulou, Gods 1999, 94). For
power-belts see note 52. Here, as on the Finglesham belt buckle, the god’s penis too is
shown (pace Hauck, “Bildzeugnisse” 1980, 568 and 575: “Geschlechtslosigkeit.”) Heroes
over-armed: CúChulainn in Old Irish tales, cf. Birkhan, Kelten 1997, 967. The curved,
jagged line on the right is a shield, perhaps in side view (like Constans’ medallion of AD
340–350 from Aquileia, RIC 35) rather than truncated inside view (Hauck,
“Brakteatenikonlogie” 1978, 397ff; “Bildzeugnisse” 1980, 568). For the “Hammertüllen” ax
see Böhme, “Zeugnisse” 1993.
38 Balder: IK 20; Woden: IK 128, cf. Hauck, “Auswertung” 1998, 307. Naked dancing, though,
is not a Roman import, for it is found already in Tacitus, Germania 24.
39 Boomerang: Hauck, “Bildzeugnisse” 1980, 569, and Capelle, “Erkenntnismöglichkeiten”
1982, 278, who sees here a “gebogenes Wurfholz”; Hauck, “Germania-Texte” 1982, 190:
“bumerangförmige Keule.” Germanic boomerangs: Isidore, Etymologies 18.7.7; Behm-
Blanke, “Seeheiligtum” 1958, 265 (finds from Oberdorla, Thüringen that, naturally, look
exactly like modern boomerangs).
40 Compare the bent spear on the bracteate amulet from Tunalund (Hauck, Goldbrakteaten 1.3,
1985, no. 7; Hauck, “Polytheismus” 1994, 269ff.) and the lance of the Dura-Europos
catafract (e.g. Bivar, “Equipment” 1972, fig. 5). Sacrifice: Hauck, “Bildzeugnisse” 1980,
569; Hauck, “Germania-Texte” 1982, 190.
41 Vibrare, “to shake,” is Latin for throwing a spear: Tacitus, Germania 6.1; Seneca, Epistles
36.7: “Si in Germania (natus esset) protinus puer tenerum hastile vibraret.” The swords of IK
107 and 197 are likewise bent to show they are the dancing sword of IK 39.
42 See e.g. the bent spear of the horseman on the Sutton Hoo helmet: Bruce-Mitford, Sutton
Hoo 1978, 190, fig. 143.
43 A fine parallel to this is a warrior vase of the Peruvian Nazca culture (AD 400–700), now in
the Pre-Columbian Museum of Santiago de Chile, depicting several warriors dancing with
outward-turned feet, each bounding between five or six parallel spears, as if they shook them
with great strength.
44 Mars: Hauck, “Bildzeugnisse” 1980, 568. There is no ground to call Woden “Mars-Woden”
or even “Randkultur-Mars” (Hauck, “Veränderung” 1980, 241; “Überlieferung” 1993,
441f.), merely because Adam of Bremen (4.25ff.) says Woden in Uppsala is depicted with
weapons as Mars is in Bremen. Who would not portray a war god with weapons? Are
therefore all war gods Mars? Clearly, Adam does not equate Woden with Mars, or call him
Mars, or even liken him to Mars. Woden also wields an ax on the Beresina bracteate (IK 20):
it may be one of his attributes.
45 Hauck, Goldbrakteaten 1985, 134: “Federbusch.” Helmet crests, however, reach no deeper
than a warrior’s neck. For a Germanic horned helmet with a long crest, see the Pruttning
stele: Garbsch and Overbeck, Spätantike 1989, 71; it nevertheless reaches only to the
warrior’s neck. Tantalizingly, Hauck, “Brakteatenikonologie” 1978, 397, also termed the Års
crest “schlangenhaft.”
46 Hauck, “Herrschaftszeichen” 1954, 47f.; “Adelskultur” 1957, 7f. To the ancients, snakes and
dragons were the same. Snakes as dragons in Greece and Rome: Vergil, Aeneid 2.204 and
2.225, cf. Servius, Aeneid 2.204; Thesaurus Linguae Latinae: “draco”; Merkelbach,

Notes 230
“Drache” 1959, 226; Wild, Drachen 1962, 3ff. Germanic wyrm as both snake and dragon:
Hauck, “Herrschaftszeichen” 1954, 38; Müller, Personennamen 1970, 64f. A comparable
lone dragon on an East Iranian helmet: Widengren, Feudalismus 1969, 152ff.
47 Constantine’s Arch: Alföldi, “Cornuti” 1959, fig. 4. A parallel bracteate amulet with a lonedragon
headgear is IK 16 from Aschersleben, cf. Hauck, Goldbrakteaten 1970, 203ff. with
plate (fig. 40, 1–4); remarkably, it shows the same neckband and Hauck rightly called it an
“ältere Vorprägung” (Hauck, Goldbrakteaten 1970, 208). Other comparable headgear of
Woden: IK 44; 50; 78; 79; 92; 191; 198.
48 The Års dancer shows no horse tail, contra Hauck, “Bildzeugnisse” 1980, 569: see the
upturned tail of the wolf on Franks Casket (Hauck, “Auzon” 1973); IK 99 (Kølby) may
indeed show a horse tail—but without upturned end (Hauck, “Überlieferung” 1993, 445, fig.
12c). Gudbrandsdalen: IK 65.
49 Figurines: Ringquist, “Människofigurer” 1969; Bergquist, “Religion” 1999. Spur to war:
Hárbarðzlióð 24. Virtus given by Woden: Chronica Æthelweardi (ed. A. Campbell, London
1962) 1.3: “Sacrificium obtulerunt pagani, victoriae causa sive virtutis.” Ziegler, “Oðin”
1985, 91. Adam of Bremen 4.26: “Bella gerit, hominique ministrat virtutem.”
Madness=virtus: Florus 1.37, quoted on p. 57, this volume. Puhvel, Mythology 1987, 193:
“He does not ‘embody’ martial ecstasy, he dispenses it, being himself devious and
manipulative.” Here Woden “embodies” it in order to dispense it.
50 God’s help: Sturluson, Heimskringla, Ynglinga saga 6; Hávamál 148; Óláfs saga Helga 228;
Saxo 109. De Vries, Religionsgeschichte II, 1957, 56; Blaney, “Berserkr” 1972, 85ff.;
Ziegler, “Oðin” 1985; Kershaw, God 2000, 4. Cf. Ŗg Veda 2.12.8; 10.121.6; 6.25.6; Zimmer,
Leben 1879, 294; Iliad, passim; Tacitus, Germania 1.3 (Hercules); Beck, Bilddenkmäler
1964, 32. In the Middle Ages: Beck, “Feldgeschrei” 1994, 305–306. “God with us”:
Vegetius 3.5.4; Maurice, Strategikon 2.18.3; 7.B16.10. Adam of Bremen 4.26: “Wodan id
est furor” (de Vries, Religionsgeschichte II, 1957, 94).
51 Davidson, “Significance” 1965. Date: Siegmund, “Gürtel” 1999, 172f., no. 5.
52 Power belts of gods and warriors: Snorra Edda, Gylfaginning 2.1: Thor’s belt doubles his
might; Skáldskaparmál 18; Saxo 69.14f. Beck, Ebersignum 1965, 54; Kühn, “Christus-
Schnallen” 1973, 56f.; Siegmund, “Gürtel” 1999, 176.
53 Reichert, Lexikon II, 1990, 556.
54 Woden: Böhner, “Eschwege” 1991, 716. Hauck, “Herrschaftszeichen” 1954, 46f.; Hauck,
“Adelskultur” 1957, 15; Hauck, “Kulte” 1980, 519; Hauck, “Polytheismus” 1994, 241; 271;
Beck, “Stanzen” 1968, 247f. It seems far-fetched to see here a one-eyed follower of Woden,
such as the Batavian Civilis (Höfler, Runenstein 1952, 201) or Hagen of the Nibelungs
(Hauck, “Adelskultur” 1957, 16f.). Not Woden: Alföldi, “Cornuti” 1959, 176; Davidson,
“Significance” 1965, 32, note 38; Bruce-Mitford, Aspects 1974, 208. See Beck,
Bilddenkmäler 1964, 40ff.; Böhner, “Eschwege” 1991, 712ff.; Arwidsson, Valsgärde 1977,
125.
55 Bergquist, “Religion” 1999
56 Kitnæs: IK 92. Hauck, “Germania-Texte” 1982, 195, holds the Finglesham dancer to be one
of the Dioscuri.
57 Now in The Museum in St-Germain-en-Laye. Salin, Civilization, vol. 4, 1959, plate XI,
facing p. 400; 573; Wallace-Hadrill, Church 1983, 28. Vallet, “Authenticité” 1989, 75–81.
Jesus seen as a young hero: Dream of the Rood 39.
58 IK 39; see also IK 79 with Procopius, Gothic Wars 4.31.20: “
.”
59 Drawing in Bruce-Mitford, Sutton Hoo 1978, 186ff., cf. p. 206f.; cf. Bruce-Mitford, Aspects
1974, 208 with figs. 53b; 53c, and 54b. Other war dancers: Valsgarde, grave 7: Anwidsson,
Valsgärde 1977, foil E, cf. pp. 119 and 122, cf. Hauck, “Polytheismus” 1994, 224ff. and
Hauck, “Kulte” 1980, 497, fig. 18; also Hauck, “Wiedergabe” 1981, 234, fig. 41.

Notes 231
60 Dioscuri: Wagner, “Dioskuren” 1960; Hauck, “Wiedergabe” 1981, 237ff.; Hauck,
“Dioskuren” 1984; Hauck, “Polytheismus” 1994, 225ff.; contra: Böhner, “Eschwege” 1991,
716. De Vries, Religionsgeschichte II, 1957, 247: “nur sehr fragmentarische Zeugnisse für
einen Dioskurenkult.” Two spears with different blades, however, are worthless for
identification of Dioscuri (pace Hauck, “Polytheismus” 1994, 327), since they are standard
equipment of Germanic warriors: Adler, Studien 1993, 91, and Woden wields them on the
Torslunda die. Inventors of war dance and song: Wagner, “Dioskuren” 1960, 225; Estell,
“Poetry” 2000, 21ff.
61 A relief at Mainz has much in common with the Sutton Hoo foil: Selzer, Steindenkmäler
1988, fig. 37.
62 Caenby: Bruce-Mitford, Sutton Hoo, 1978, 206.
63 Dover: Hauck, “Wiedergabe” 1981,198, with fig. 13. Masks: see p. 124, this volume.
64 Ringquist, “Människofigurer” 1969; Bergqvist, “Religion” 1999
65 Hauck, “Auswertung” 1998, 307, comparing the bracteate amulet IK 128 (Nebenstedt) with
the gold foil from Sorte Muld (type 280), three generations later.
66 Skulason: Sturluson, Skaldskaparmál 53: “Snáks ber fald of fraeknu fólkvördr.”
67 Embodied: Hauck, “Lebensnormen” 1955, 214f.; Goldbrakteaten 1970, 266f.; “Germania-
Texte” 1982, 198; “Gudme” 1987; “Polytheismus” 1994, 225f., 241, 270. Possessed: Glúmr
Geirason, Gráfeldardrápa 12 (AD 970): “Woden himself was in the Sea-Warriors” (after
Much, Germania 1967, 160). De Vries, Religionsgeschichte II, 1957, 252ff.; Hauck,
“Wiedergabe” 1981, 243; 253f.; see p. 31, this volume.
68 Celts: Birkhan, Kelten 1997, 641 (on Uther Pendragon); Ammianus 16.12.39: “Caesar …quo
agnito per purpureum signum draconis summitate hastae longioris aptatum.” Signum regis
among Anglo-Saxons: Chaney, Cult 1970, 127ff. Norsemen: Snorri Sturlusson,
Heimskringla, Óláfs saga Helga 49 (AD 1016). In scene 75 of Trajan’s Column, the Dacian
dragons also seem to go with the king.
69 Förstemann, Namenbuch 1900, 1665; Kaufmann, Personennamen 1968, 418; Werner,
Heilsbilder 1963.
70 Axboe et al., “Gallehus” 1998.
71 Eliade, Myth 1963, 6.
72 Ringquist, “Människofigurer” 1969.
73 Beck, Bilddenkmäler 1964, 50; Beck, “Stanzen” 1968; Hauck, “Polytheismus” 1994, 214ff.
Höfler, Geheimbünde 1934, 157; Alföldi, “Cornuti” 1959, 177; Hauck, “Germania-Texte”
1982, 189ff.
74 Procopius, Gothic Wars 4.31.18ff.
75 Beowulf: “sweorda gelac” and “ecga gelac” are metaphors for battle: Hauck,
“Herrschaftszeichen” 1954, 9; laikaz: Beck, “Stanzen” 1968, 244.
76 Beck, “Stanzen” 1968, 245ff.; cf. Förstemann, Namenbuch 1900, 996; Kaufmann,
Personennamen 1968, 223. A fifth-century runic inscription from Norway has the name
HadulaikaR, “Battle-Dancer” (Reichert, Lexikon I, 1987, 417).
77 Athenaeus 155B; Werner, Waffentanz 1968.
78 Twin-dragon dancers: München-Feldmoching, grave 229; Prähistorische Staatssammlung
inv. 1952, 1006 Dannheimer and Ulbert, Reihengräber 1956, 22. Wolf-warriors:
Oberwarngau, grave 171, inv. nr. 1953, 308, unpublished. Long-hairs: Oberwarngau, grave
161. Such belts are datable to AD 640–670: Siegmund, “Gürtel” 1999, 172, no. 9.
79 They have long been recognized as masks, see e.g. von Freeden, “Gräberfeld” 1987, 538.
Rectangular masks are not unusual and are known, for example, among the Tlingit of
America’s northwest coast: see Siebert and Forman, Art 1967, plates 29ff.
80 Twin-dragon headgear is seen also on a belt-fitting from Alamannic Buggingen: Christlein,
Alemannen 1979, plate 81. See also Figure 1.4.
81 Meuli, “Maske” 1933; Eliade, Return 1954, 53 and 70; Kershaw, God 2000, 26ff.

Notes 232
82 Grönbech, Kultur 1997, II, 218ff.; Höfler, Geheimbünde 1934, 44ff.; 154ff.; 250ff.; Hauck,
“Lebensnormen” 1955; Kershaw, God 2000, 26ff.
83 The next ones come from the Viking age, more than two hundred years later: Beck,
“Maske”, RGA 19, 2001. From the ninth century comes a small bronze mask with
comparable, stylized, very long hair, found at Voel/Denmark and now at Silkeborg Museum
(kind information by Knud Bjerring Jensen).
84 Wolf-ancestors: see p. 22f; Woden, ancestor of kings: see p. 35. Isengrim: Meuli, “Maske”
1933, 177 If. The black mask further up on the strap-end may stand for the blackened
commoner ancestors we have met as Harii. Meuli, “Maske” 1933, 1771f., records that in
Switzerland, wolf-mask festivals survive to this day under the name of Isengrim, “ironcolor
mask,” with blackened youths dancing along. Wolf-dancers (Vulfolaic): see p. 29.
85 Tacitus, Germania 3.1; Histories 5.17.2; Ammianus 31.7.11; Iordanes, Getica 43.
86 Hauck, “Herrschaftszeichen” 1954, 43 Childerich: Wenskus “Religion” 1994, 226–7.
87 Hauck, “Ludus” 1951.
88 Förstemann, Namenbuch 1900, 128; Reichert, Lexikon I, 1987, 54.
89 Marstrander, Skipene 1986, 132.
90 The dragon heads seem to point outward (as they also do on one of the Bavarian strap ends),
a variant of the design, unless the crests of the dragon heads are meant.
91 Edda , Lokasenna, Introduction 14f.
12
DART-THROWERS
1 Bronze Age: Drews, End 1993, 180ff. Spear bundles of Roman horsemen: Schleiermacher,
Reitergrabsteine 1984, 117; Speidel, Denkmäler 1994, 686 (CIL III, 7317); gravestone of
Oclatius, Neuss (AE 1926, 67); gravestone of Ael. Victorinus from Pannonia (CIL III
3677=10609=Schober, Grabsteine 1923, 259=Speidel, “Mauri” 1993, fig. 4). Spear bundles
of Roman foot: gravestone of M. Porcius Probus, CIL V, 5196=Franzoni, Habitus 1987,
80ff.—Bishop and Coulston, Equipment 1993, frontispiece: there the bundle is recognized,
but not the role of the small shield, for which see Diodore 5.34.5 and Speidel, Denkmäler
1994, no. 686. Such reliefs are few, hence this was not a major weapon. Arrian, Tactica
43.1: .
2 Tacitus, Annals 2.14.3: “Primam utcumque aciem hastatam, ceteris praeusta aut brevia tela.”
3 Tacitus, Germania 6.1: “Pedites et missilia spargunt, pluraque singuli, atque in immensum
vibrant, nudi aut sagulo leves.”
4 Not rocks: Much, Germania 1967, 139- Not clubs: Isidore, Etymologies 18.7.7: “Clava
…iacta quidem non longe evolat propter gravitatem,” cf. Wenskus, “Bewaffnung” 1976,
458.
5 There is no reason to assume that the missilia were frameae (Adler, Studien 1993, 242) and
that therefore Tacitus needlessly made “a distinction that the Germani themselves did not
make” (Rives, Tacitus 1999, 140); to do so is also to overlook the word et in Tacitus’ text
that sets missilia off from frameae. See also Vegetius 2.14.3.
6 Strabo 4.4.3. Cf. Polybios 6.22, where the grosphus is said to be as thick as a finger.
7 British Museum 1946, Oc. 1.1.
8 Vegetius 2.15.5.
9 Sviða: Buchholz, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 478. See also Isidore, Origines 18.7.2: “Contus ferrum
non habet sed tantum cuspite acuto est.” Bone-tipped: Hamberg, “Germanen” 1936, 46.
Horn-tipped: Pliny, Natural History 11.45, “Urorum cornibus barbari
septentrionales…praefixa hastilia cuspidant.” All kinds of spears without iron blades: Jahn,
Bewaffnung 1916, 217; Wenskus, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 458; Capelle,

Notes 233
“Erkenntnismöglichkeiten” 1982, 278ff.; Pieper, “Holzfunde” 1999, 520. Contra: Weski,
Waffen 1994.
10 Crous, “Waffenpfeiler” 1933, no. 468. Spear bundles of the fourth and fifth centuries:
Werner, “Bewaffnung” 1968, 104; Böhme, Grabfunde 1974, 110f.
11 However, a short, smooth-bladed spear could be used by foot warriors against horsemen as
in figure 17.4.
12 Even Norwegian kings threw darts—from shipboard, with both hands or two at a time:
Snorri Sturlusson, Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar 109; Óláfs saga Helga 249.
13 Tacitus, Histories 5.17.3. Skirmishers generally: Vegetius 3.14.11; Ammianus 24.6.10.
14 Óláfs saga Helga 226.
13
ROCK-THROWERS
1 Mardonios: Plutarch, Aristeides 19; compare Ammianus 20.7.10; 31.10.14; Suetonius,
Augustus 20.1.
2 Caesar, Gallic War 1.46.1: “Caesari nuntiatum est equites Ariovisti propius tumulum accedere
et ad nostros adequitare, lapides telaque in nostros coicere.”
3 Batavi: Arrian, Tactica 43.1; Speidel, Riding 1994, 113. Mistaken: Thompson, Early Germans
1965, 115.
4 Weight: Vegetius 4.22.8; Baatz, Bauten 1994, 121f. Pusio: Dio 56.11; cf. Homer, Iliad
12.442f.; Tacitus, Histories 2.22.1 Speidel, Riding 1994, 18. The rock-throwers on Trajan’s
Column, scene 66, are Britons, as I will show elsewhere. Goths: Dexippus, Scythica, FGH
467, frag. 25.
5 Vegetius 2.23; 3.14; 4.8; 4.17; 4.29, 4.44. Childhood: Speidel, Riding 1994, plate 14.
6 Supply: Maurice 9.3.28; Albrethsen, “Problems” 1997. Repair and replenish: Ammianus
31.7.12; Agathias 2.6.3, see p. 93, this volume.
7 Recovered: Völling, “Funditores” 1990, 31f. Written sources ibid. 55. Sea battles: Saxo
111.19f.
8 Bowmen: Thompson, Early Germans 1965, 116f.; Böhme, Grabfunde 1974, 110f.; Raddatz,
“Bewaffnung” 1976, 429f.; 435; Wenskus, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 459; Speidel,
“Lebensbeschreibungen” 2004. Bowmen despised: Altheim, Niedergang II, 1952, 133.
9 Sagas: Beck, Ebersignum 1965, 42. Stiklastad: Óláfs saga Helga 226.
10 Morillo, Warfare 1994, 191. Compare also Saxo 220.
14
LANCERS
1 Mycenaean: Mouliana burial, Cunliffe, Prehistory 1994, 284. Massagetae, Medians: Eadie,
“Development” 1967, 161ff. Iran: Altheim, Niedergang I, 1952, 19ff.; Sassanians: Bivar,
“Equipment” 1972, fig. 10.
2 Hallstadt scabbard, now in the Naturhistorisches Museum, Wien: Pauli, Kelten 1980, 260f.;
Celtic lances: Birkhan, Kelten, 1997, 1136. Lancers among Scythians: Sembach, Gold 1984,
no. 55; Sarmatians: see notes 11 and 16–18; in the Roman imperial army: Hoffmann,
Bewegungsheer I, 1969, 265ff.
3 Polybius 6.253–11; McCall, Cavalry 1992, 27ff.
4 Cichorius, Reliefs II, 1896, 39; Speidel, Guards 1978, 47; Strobel, Dakerkriege 1984, 104.

Notes 234
5 Lances were good not only for battle but also for crowd control, see Apuleius, Metamorphoses
10.1: “Lancea longissimo hastili conspicuo propter terrendos miseros viatores.” The men in
scene 5 thus may be the hastiliarii of the bodyguard: Speidel, Denkmäler 1994, 12f. (in war,
no doubt, their lances had metal blades). For the use of Germanic weapons among the
bodyguard see p. 143.
6 For example, Constantine’s horse guards on his porphyry sarcophagus in the Vatican
Museum.
7 Only foot: Adler, “Hastae” 1995, 96. Spurs: ibid. 100.
8 Batavi: Plutarch, Otho 12.5.
9 Found on Bergl hill, now in the Museum of Rusovce-Bratislava, Slovakia. I owe the
photograph to the kindness of Dr. Schmidtová, Bratislava. Two dolphins play in the gable.
Anvil, hammer, and thongs are seen above the broken inscription.
10 One soldier of ala I Canninefatium is named “Contarius,” surely also out of pride about his
weapon: Speidel, Studiey II, 1992, 62ff.; compare names like Ariogaisus: Schönfeld,
Wörterbuch 1965, 28; Reichert, Lexikon II, 1990, 513f.
11 Small blade: Servius, Aeneid 7, 664: ingenscontus cum ferro brevissimo.” The pennon, hard
to see on our photograph (figure 14.2), is very clear on the original. A triangular pennon is
seen also on a lance in scene 65 of the Bayeux tapestry. To signal: Vegetius 3.5.8
(flammulae); Maurice, Strategikon 1.2.19; 1.2.76; cf. 2.14.5; 2.10; 3.5.12; 7.B.16.5;
7.B17.14. Or to keep the weapon from penetrating too deeply? Thus White, Technology
1962, 8—yet Maurice says to take the pennons off for battle, hence some at least were
badges or decorations, for which see Ubl, “Waffen” 1969, 363. Another Pannonian cavalry
lance with a pennon: Schober, Grabsteine 1923, p. 44, no. 91, fig. 38. A seventh-century
Alamannic lance with a flag: Quast, Gültlingen 1993, 43. Pennoned lances, dafar darraður,
are mentioned in the ninth-century Atlakviða (4). Interfere: Keen, Chivalry 1984, 24.
12 Tacitus, Histories 4.15.1.
13 Ala Canninefatium: Alföldy, Hilfstruppen 1968, 14; Lörincz, Hilfstruppen 2001, 17f.
Against the Quadi: Altheim, Niedergang II, 1952, 138; Kiechle, “Taktik” 1964, 104;
Alföldy, Krise 1989, 398. Ammianus 17.12.1f.: “Sarmatas et Quados…quibus… hastae sunt
longiores.”
14 Horse guard: see p. 143. Auxiliary units: see p. 212, note 27.
15 Hošek, Tituli 1984, 57ff., no. 23, sees in the Gerulata horseman a Canninefas and in his lance
a Germanic weapon; cf. Ubl, “Waffen” 1969, 356. Bishop and Coulston, Equipment 1993,
109f., take the Gerulata lance for Sarmatian. There is no substance to the claims that the long
lance of Danubian contarii, whether Sarmatian, Canninefatian, or Quadian, is a Parthian
import (contra: Kemkes-Scheuerbrandt, Patrouille 1997, 37), or that the Germanic long
lance “was taken over from the steppe-peoples” (Wenskus, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 459).
Tacitus: Annals 1.64.2; 2.14.2. See also p. 100, this volume.
16 Arrian, Tactica 40.4.
17 Arrian, Tactica 43.2. Sarmatian contus-lances: Tacitus, Histories 1.79 (no shields, both
hands), cf. Annals 6.35. Couched: grave stele from Budapest (Schober, Grabsteine 1923, 44,
no. 91), cf. Keen, Chivalry 1984, 24 and figs. 2–3.
18 Speidel, Studies 1992, 64f.; Schleiermacher, Reitergrabsteine 1984, 170. Sarmatian lances
supported by the knee: Valerius Flaccus VI.236: “abies obnixa genu.” Silius, Punica 15.684:
“sustentata genu…pondera conti”; Adamklissi, Metopes 1 and 2; see also gravestones from
Worms and Paris (Schleiermacher, Reitergrabsteine 1984, nos. 49 and 95).
19 See p. 140.
20 Arrian, Tactica 44 (but not 4.7); contra: Altheim, Niedergang I, 1952, 99; also Müller,
Einfluss 1998, 89ff., who, while elsewhere rightly reducing inflated Sarmatian claims, yet
takes Ammianus 17.12.1f. as Sarmatian influence. For pictures of the Sarmatian lance see
e.g. Mielczarek, Cataphracti 1993.

Notes 235
21 Ride off to the right: Arrian, Tactica 36.5. For the Middle Ages see the discs from
Nendingen (Fuchs, Alamannen 1997, 415) and Pliezhausen (figure 17.5), as well as many
Vendel helmet decorations. Böhner, “Eschwege” 1981, 711, overlooks this tendency. If the
attack formation were a wedge, then the left side would likewise need its lances to the left.
Left-handedness an advantage: Dio 72.22.3 (Commodus); Speidel, “Mauri” 1993, 124 (a
spear thrower).
22 Lörincz, Hilfstruppen 2001, 18; Speidel, Riding 1994, 113; Speidel, Studies II, 1992, 65.
Milliaria units being decisive: Birley, Army 1988, 349ff.
23 Slender thrusting lances of this ala: Schleiermacher, Reitergrabsteine 1984, 174f.; van
Rengen, Apamea 1992, plate 23. A bulky one: van Rengen, Apamea 1992, plate 25.
24 Flavius Bonio: CIL III 3679; Schleiermacher, Reitergrabsteine 1984, 253. Ala Tungrorum
Frontoniana: Alföldy, Hilfstruppen 1968, 38ff. Germani: Saddington, “Ala” 2002.
25 Arrian, Tactica 44:
. Scholars sometimes took this passage to refer to Celts rather than
Germani, for, as Greek authors often do, Arrian uses the word “Keltoi” when he refers to
Germani, as in his Ectaxis 2: = “equites cohortis I Germanorum.” Haas,
“Germanen” 1943/44, 76; Paschoud, Zosime I, 1971, 204; Speidel, Riding 1994, 113.
Contra: Kiechle, “Taktik” 1964, 114, ignoring the facts that Arrian himself uses the word
“Keltoi” for the Quadi (Anabasis 1.3.2), and that the inhabitants of Gaul to Arrian are
“Galatai” (Ektaxis 9: ala II Gallorum= ). Besides, these new maneuvers,
previously not trained by Roman cavalry, cannot well be Celtic in the sense of Gaulish, for
the Gauls had long lost their freedom and with it their warlike spirit (Tacitus, Agricola 11.4:
“Gallos quoque in bellis floruisse accepimus; mox segnitia cum otio intravit, amissa virtute
pariter ac libertate”).
26 Tacitus, Histories 1.79.1f.; Ammianus 17.12.2.
27 Arrian, Ectaxis; Plutarch, Otho 12.5; Vegetius 3.23.4. Goldsworthy, Army 1996, 232f.
Adrianople: Ammianus 31.12.17.
28 Ammianus 16.12.24: “Audax et fidus ingenti robore lacertorum…immanis, equo spumante
sublimior, erectus in iaculum formidandae vastitatis.” Fourth- and fifth-century lance blades:
Böhme, Grabfunde 1974, 100–104.
29 The huge lance became a proud weapon even to Roman emperors: Constantius II (337–361)
wielded a beamlike hasta trabalis to show that he was one with his (Germanic) horse guard:
Panegyrici Latini 4.29.5, cf. Nixon and Sayler-Rodgers, Praise 1994, 375. Gloating over
those killed “trabalibus telis”: Ammianus 16.12.53.
30 Maurice, Strategikon 11.3.10f.
31 Maurice, Strategikon 3.5.32, cf. 11.3.10. The latter passage repeats the former, it does not,
therefore, speak of swords borne on the shoulder but of lances (contra: Gamillscheg, in
Dennis and Gamillscheg, Strategikon 1981, 369; Dennis, Strategikon 1984, 38 and 119).
Helmet from Vendel grave 1: Beck, Bilddenkmäler 1964, table 2.1. Gamillscheg translates
as “drei Schritte,” which is impossible; Dennis, translates it “at a trot,” but a threebeat
horse gait, not too fast, clearly is a canter.
32 This seems to be Maurice’s verdict, Strategikon 11.3.17ff., when he says they array
themselves for battle evenly and densely but fight recklessly. Maurice’s description of
“blond” peoples as (Strategikon 4.1.17) likewise refers to a time when the two
armies have already closed in upon one another and hand-to-hand fighting has begun.
33 Maurice, Strategikon 11.3.11f.:
,translated by Dennis, Strategikon 1984, 119, as “rapid charges”, by Gamillscheg
in Dennis and Gamillscheg, Strategikon 1981, 369, as “schwungvolle Angriffe.” However,

Notes 236
and later in Maurice always refer to horse; earlier such use: Plutarch, Sulla
19.
34 Horsemen: Werner, “Bewaffnung” 1968, 107f. Alighted: Tacitus, Annals 1.64; 2.14;
Ammianus 16.12.34; Maurice, Strategikon 11.3.7ff.; Battle of Maldon 2; Hollister,
Institutions 1962, 131–140. Carolingians: Last, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 470.
35 Engström (“Chieftains” 1997, 250; 254) instead sees Sassanian or Byzantine horse as the
model for northern cavalry (no reference to Mauritius). But even though some equipment,
such as the mail face guard, may have come from the south, like Roman equipment
(Raddatz, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 425) it did not change essential tactics.
36 Valsgärde grave 7, left side, zone II. Hauck, “Polytheismus” 1994, 233, fig. 17.
37 Egils saga 53. Compare Grettis saga 19.
15
SPEAR-THROWERS
1 Tacitus, Germania 6.1: “Hastas vel ipsorum vocabulo frameas gerunt angusto et brevi ferro,
sed ita acri et ad usum habili, ut eodem telo, prout ratio poscit, vel cominus vel eminus
pugnent. Et eques quidem scuto frameaque contentus est. Pedites et missilia spargunt,
pluraque singuli, atque in immensum vibrant.” Tacitus is fairly accurate: Wenskus,
“Bewaffnung” 1976, 458; Adler, Studien 1993, 234ff.; also Rives, Tadtus 1999, 135ff.
2 Celtic blades, all smooth: Connolly, Greece 1981, 117. There are no Roman barbed blades in
Schleiermacher, Reitergrabsteine 1984, though some Roman pila, designed to render shields
useless, had barbs: von Schnurbein, “Ango” 1974, 425 (for a Celtic equivalent see note 5).
To von Schnurbein’s list of barbed blades from Roman sites, but likely Germanic, one might
add one from Lyne fort, Scottish borders, Antonine or later (Museum of Scotland no. FR
281; Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries Scotland 35, 1900–1901, 154–186); another
of the fourth century from Housesteads is now in Newcastle Museum.
3 V. Schnurbein, “Ango” 1974; Raddatz, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 374f. (the quote in the text); 423;
427; Adler, Studien 1993, 85ff.; Steuer, in Schlüter and Wiegels, Rom 1999, 477; 483.
Drawings of Germanic barbed spear blades: von Schnurbein, “Ango” 1974, 427; Adler,
Studien 1993, 89. A good photograph: Fuchs, Alamannen 1997, no. 150.
4 For example, gold coins of Claudius (RIC, 2nd edn 73) and Domitian (RIC 127); and a
dupondius of Domitian (RIC 295). However, since Trajanic coins show barbed Dacian
javelins, there is a danger that later coins meaninglessly imitate the spears of Domitian’s
coins, e.g. Commodus, RIC 1570, and Probus, RIC 222. As for foot, Stilicho’s spear on his
diptych is not barbed (contra: Steuer, in Schlüter and Wiegels, Rom 1999, 483, following
von Schnurbein, “Ango” 1974, 426; also Bishop and Coulston, Equipment 1993, 164)—
good photographs show the blade merely ribbed. Quadi: CIL III 10969=RIU 509 (Brigetio).
5 Geometric mixing bowl from grave F at Tekke-Ambelokipi near Knossos, shown on the front
cover of Buchholz, Kriegswesen 1980. Lusitani: Diodore 5.34.5; compare a nearly all-iron
Celtic blade with barbs: Bruneaux and Lambot, Guerre 1987, fig. 15. Gildas mentions
“uncinata tela” of Picts and Scots.
6 Not honorable: Birkhan, Kelten 1997, 1134. The Old Indian lawbook of Manu
(Mānavadharmashāstra 7.9) forbids kings to slay their foes with concealed, barbed, or
poisonous weapons (Maurer, Pinnacles 1986, 310).
7 Valerius Maximus 2.3.3; Frontinus 4.7.29; Livy 26.4f. Cf. Sallust, Jugurthan War 46.7.
Kromeyer and Veith, Heerwesen 1928, 309; McCall, Cavalry 1992, 42. The Thesaurus
Linguae Latinae s.v. incurvus (1097, 11f.) takes “incurvus” here to mean “hooked.”
8 Tacitus, Germania 6.3: “In universum aestimani plus penes peditem roboris; eoque mixti
proeliantur.” See pp. 157 and 166. Hamberg, “Bewaffnung” 1936, 41f.

Notes 237
9 Raddatz, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 374, with fig. 79.0. Ilkjær, Illerup 1990, 170; 329.
10 Tearing: Agathias 2.5; Saxo 65. Tacitus may have had such blades in mind when he said that
the iron of the framea was sharp and handy for face-to-face fighting: sharp (acer), it seems,
for cutting, and handy (ad usum habilis) for ripping. By contrast, Much, Germania 1967,
136, is somewhat at a loss to explain why Tacitus refers to the iron of the framea, and
translators tend to go astray here.
11 Speidel, Denkmäler 1994, p. 9 and no. 83; cf. ibid. no. 355a.
12 A horse guard’s shield on another gravestone also shows a barbed spear: Speidel, Denkmäler
1994, 355a, with nearly the same shield ornament. Unwonted detail on the gravestone of an
armorum custos: CIL V, 5196=Franzoni, Habitus 1987, no. 56. The owner of the gravestone
is a Thracian, but Batavian custom prevailed among the horse guard: from the first to the
third century they had the unofficial name Batavi, many were Batavians, and their style of
gravestones came from Lower Germany.
13 Swimming rivers: Speidel, “Lebensbeschreibungen” 2004.
14 Tacitus, Annals 11.16: “Armis equisque in patrium nostrumque morem exercitus” (surely
with the horse guard: Speidel, Riding 1994, 26). Native Germanic weapons of Roman troops
in the fourth and fifth centuries are typified by Stilicho’s weapons: von Schnurbein, “Ango”
1974, 426 (but see note 4, this chapter).
15 RIC VII, Ticinum, p. 63. Further guards with barbed spears: Aurelianus’ Protector CIL III,
327=Dessau, Inscriptiones 1892, 2775=TAM IV. 137, cf. Speidel, “Decorations” II, 1997,
233; also a cut class beaker in Köln: Waurick, Gallien 1980, 113.
16 Elagabalus: RIC 57; BMC 195. Lanceola: Historia Augusta, Maximinus 30.2 (Lippold,
Kommentar 1991, 365, suggests lanceae were not widely used in the Roman army before the
end of the third century, but see Balty, “Apamea” 1988; Tomlin, “Manuscripts” 1998);
Anonymus Valesianus 78 on Anastasios in AD 518, “In trinitatem lanceolam non mittis!”
For Anastasios using the barbed throwing spear see Kolias, Waffen 1988, 189. Lanceola as
the Latin name of the Germanic weapon: Historia Augusta, Claudius 8.5 with Much,
Germania 1967, 139.
17 Look like them: Tacitus, Histories 2.20 (Caecina); Herodian 4.7.3 (Caracalla); Panegyrici
Latini 8.16.4 (Allectus); Epitome de Caesaribus 47.6 (Gratian). Speidel, “Decorations” II,
1997, 231. Germanic kings too wished to look like their followers: see p. 185. Share fame:
Tacitus, Germania 14.1; Speidel, Riding 1994, 39f. Disconcertingly, though, Constantine’s
barbed spear on the nine-solidi Arras hoard medallion (RIC 801) is taller than the emperor
himself and rather thick, more like a hasta trabalis, perhaps to make him look strong. See p.
138.
18 Von Schnurbein, “Ango” 1974; Weski, Waffen 1982, 190; Capelle, Archäologie 1990, 66;
Adler, Studien 1993, 246. Portonaccio sarcophagus (Figure 17.4). Arrian, Tactica 4.6 (end).
Adler, Studien 1993, 186ff.
19 Ilkjær, Illerup 1990, 259.
20 Summers, Culture 1999, 97ff.; Adler, Studien 1993, 91. Twin-spears of the Geometric period
in Greece: Höckmann, “Lanze” 1980, 302; Odyssey 1.256; Drews, End 1993, 192. Illyrians:
Belt from Vace=fig. 14 in Mallory, Search 1989. Slavs: Maurice, Strategikon 11.4.44.
Germanic guards of the Byzantine emperors also had pila and lanceae (Corippus, Iust.
3237–3245).
21 Alamanni, Franks, Saxons: Böhme, Grabfunde 1974, 111. Bavarians: the Inzing barbed
javelin blade (sixth-seventh century) in the Charlottenburg Museum für Ur-und
Frühgeschichte. High-ranking warriors: Steuer, in Schlüter and Wiegels, Rom 1999, 483.
22 Two unusual late-Roman gravestones from Aquileia show legionaries with barbed spears:
CIL V, 900 and 944=Franzoni, Habitus 1987, nos. 13 and 14. Scandinavia: Schulze-
Dörrlamm, “Kriegergräber” 1985, 549, with fig. 34. Vendel helmet foils: Hauck,
“Polytheismus” 1994, 224; grave 54 at Simris, Skona (Raddatz, “Bewaffnung” 1976, figs. 93
and 94); Adler, Studien 1993, 91; Hauck, “Wiedergabe” 1981, 234. The Torslunda die

Notes 238
(figure 1.6) shows one of Woden’s spears much thinner than the other, very likely to set it
off as a throwing spear.
23 Iordanes, Getica 261; Battle of Maldon 134–137.
24 On foot: IK 6 (Års); IK 20 (Beresina); IK 39 (Denmark); IK 51.1 (Fakse); IK 51.3 (Gudme);
IK 66 (Gummerup); IK 65 (Skovsborg). On horseback: IK 65b (Gudbrandsdalen); IK 92
(Kitnæs; Hauck, “Polytheismus” 1994, 273); IK 98 (køje); IK 151 (Skona); IK 163
(Skonager); IK 193 Rv (Tunalund). Balder’s spear as he rides to Hel is also barbed: IK 14
(Aneby); IK 86 Rv (Inderøy). Woden’s weapon: Hauck, “Polytheismus” 1994, 243ff.; 270ff.
Raddatz, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 430: “Es hat offenkundig keine spezielle Reiterbewaffnung
gegeben.”
25 Beck, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 482. Reichert, Lexikon I, 1987, 68; 216; 301ff.; 309; Reichert,
Lexikon II, 1990, 513f.
26 Raddatz, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 427; cf. Kolias, Waffen 1988, 189. Engström, “Chieftains”
1997, takes the strap for a carrying handle only, but Saxo 26.41: “Haec vociferantem
Hadingus hasta traicit amentata,” proves beyond cavil that it was a throwing strap; likewise
Atlamál in Grœnlenzko 42.
27 Strap: IK 92 (Kitnæs); Raddatz, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 427; Kolias, Waffen 1988, 189.
Philistines: Drews, End 1993, 185. Perhaps the Roman pilum was thrown thus: gravestone of
Flavoleius Cordus, Mainz (Boppert, Grabdenkmäler 1992, 92); cf. Isidore, Origines 18.7.5:
“Lancea est hasta amentum habens in medio.” Saxo 26.
28 Hervarar saga (“Hunnenschlachtlied” 28.4): “óc láti svá Óðinn fleinn fliúga.”
29 Thrown or hand-to-hand: Agathias 2.5; von Schnurbein, “Ango” 1974; Fuchs, Alamannen
1997, 237ff. Compare the nearly all-iron Celtic spear from northern Italy (Bruneaux and
Lambot, Guerre 1987, fig. 15); also a Mycenaean spear with bronze-covered shaft
(Höckmann, “Lanze” 1980). The kesja spears or byrnie piercers ( ) of Egil and
Thorolf in Egils saga 53 are also a kind of ango to judge by the square cross-section of the
blade.
30 Engströmm, “Chieftains” 1997.
31 Raddatz, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 374.
32 For its latest occurrences in the Middle Ages, see von Schnurbein, “Ango” 1974, 421.
16
WHEELING RIGHT
1 Fighting on horseback: Birkhan, “Germanen” 1970, 398f. Illyrians: belt from Vace (fig. 13 in
Mallory, Search 1989). Romans: Josephus, Jewish War 3.96; Arrian, Tactica 41f. Celts:
Strabo 4.4.3; Birkhan, Kelten 1997, 1133f.
2 Cavalry attacks: Arrian, Tactica 4. Goldsworthy, Army 1996, 228; Morillo, Warfare 1994,
154ff. Germani: Caesar, Gallic War 7.80.6; Arrian, Tactica 44.1; Ammianus 16.12.36;
31.12.17; Procopius, Gothic War 4.32. Early Byzantine horse followed the rule Tacitus
reports for Germanic horsemen (Germania 30.3): that it is fine to give ground, so long as one
returns to the fight (Maurice, Strategikon 3.11.15).
3 Tacitus, Germania 6.1, a fact confirmed by finds in graves. Cf. Arrian, Tactica 4.6. Spears
were preferred as the first weapon to be used (Ammianus 31.13–5), but a horseman could
also use his sword while still holding spears: Speidel, Studies I 1984, 173ff.=Schleiermacher,
Reitergrabsteine 1984, 220f.
4 Arrian, Tactica 4.6: . Latin
“hasta” and “lancea”, even “contus” are very wide concepts, more overlapping with English
“spear” than with “lance” (“contus” for throwing: Strabo 10.448; Arrian, Ektaxis 16f.; 26).

Notes 239
Adler, Studien 1993, uses modern German “Speer” for barbed spears only—against German
and English usage.
5 Tacitus, Annals 2.11.
6 Tacitus, Germania 6.2: “Sed nec variare gyros in morem nostrum docentur. In rectum aut uno
flexu dextros agunt, ita coniuncto orbe, ut nemo posterior sit.” Speidel, “Cavalry Training”
1996.
7 For a review of the literature on Tacitus’ passage see Lund, “Germania” 1991, 2050ff. Lund,
Probleme 1989, 269ff., “solves” the non-existent problem by laying violent hands on
Tacitus’ text, changing it from aut to et. Even such outstanding studies as Adler, Studien
1993, 250, and Wolters, “Kampf” 2000, 209, see here only one instead of two different
attack maneuvers.
8 Tacitus, Histories 3.2.4: “alae perrupere hostem.” Annals 14.37: “eques protentis hastis
perfringit quod obvium et validum erat.” If the charge miscarried, they would ride off to the
right, as Romans might do (Arrian, Tactica 36.5).
9 Spears: Adler, Studien 1993, 259f. Lammert, Taktik 1931, 52, is wrong to take Tacitus’ abovementioned
words “eques quidem scuto, frameaque contentus est” to mean a horseman had
only one spear. Attack: cf. Tacitus, Annals 6.35 (on Sarmatians and Hiberi): “Modo equestris
proelii more frontis et tergi vices, aliquando ut conserta acies corporibus et pulsu armorum
pellerent, pellerentur.”
10 Arrian, Tactica 38.5: ; cf. ibid. 4.6. Lammert, Taktik 1931, 56.
11 Arrian, Tactica 4.6.
12 Helpers: Caesar, Gallic War 1.48; 8.13; Livy 44.26; Tacitus, Germania 6.3. See the
illustration of CIL III 3677=10609 in Speidel, “Mauri” 1993, fig. 4.
13 Arrian, Tactica 37.2–5; 44.1: .
14 Totila in AD 552 even changed circles: Procopios, Gothic War 4.31.19.
15 Herodian 8.1.3; Maurice, Strategikon 11.3.11fF.
16 Lucanus, Pharsalia 1.423: “Optima gens flexis in gyrum Sequana frenis.”
17 Arrian, Tactica 36.1.
18 Caesar, Gallic War 4.12.1; Strabo 4.4.2; Plutarch, Otho 12; Tacitus, Germania 32; Dio
55.24.6f.; Herodian 8.1.3; Aurelius Victor 21.2 (see note 22); Dexippos, FGH 100, f. 6.4:
. Prokopios, Gothic War 4.32.18ff.;
Maurice, Strategikon 11.3.7. Gundel, Untersuchungen 1937, 38; Springer, “Kriegswesen”
2001, 339. Thompson, Early Germans 1965, 116ff., grudging that “German cavalry was
somewhat less ineffective than German infantry,” makes one wonder about the Roman army
they conquered. Authority: Contamine, War 1984, 180; likewise Jankuhn, “Bewaffnung”
1976, 457.
19 Caesar, Gallic War 1.39: “incredibili virtute atque exercitatione in armis.”
20 Velleius Paterculus 2.109; Speidel, Riding 1994, 20.
21 Tencteri: Tacitus, Germania 32. Feigned flight: Plutarch, Marius 26.1f.; Arrian, Tactica
44.1: … ; Ammianus 17.12.3. Feigned flight was still known to
Norman cavalry in the eleventh century: Morillo, Warfare 1994, 148. Cf. Altheim,
Niedergang I, 1952, 73f.; Smail, Warfare 1956, 78.
22 Aurelius Victor, Caesares 21.2: “Alamannos, gentem populosam ex equo mirifice
pugnantem.”
23 Tacitus, Germania 6.1. Strabo 4.4.3 says the same of Celtic warriors, a “topos” based on
truth. Cf. Diodore 5.34.5.
24 Adler, Studien 1993, 240, rightly remarking that Caesar easily integrated Germanic horse
into his cavalry; on 244 he considers Arrian’s horsemen hurling 15–20 spears (Tactica 42),
but that belongs rather to the show-side than to the war-side of the maneuver.
25 Wheeler, “Firepower” 2001.

Notes 240
26 Weapons: Adler, Studien 1993, 259f. Literary sources: Herodian 8.1.3; Dexippos, FGH 100,
frag. 6.4; 7.2.
27 Herodian 7.2.1; 7.8.10; 8.1.3.
28 Speidel, Studies I, 1984 139; cf. Dexippos, FGH 100, frag. 6.4. Vandals: Altheim,
Niedergang I, 1952, 120.
29 Schumacher and Klumbach, Germanendarstellungen 1935, nos. 115; 116; 124.
30 A campestre: Alföldi, Reiteradel 1952, 36ff.
31 For example, Tacitus, Histories 1.79.3f.; Libanius, Oratio 59.110; Vegetius 3.23.3.
32 Caesar, Gallic War 4.2.3; 4.12.2; Tacitus, Annals 1.64; 2.14; Ammianus 16.12.34: “statim
desiluit et secuti eum residui idem fecere”; Maurice, Strategikon 11.3.7ff.; cf. Julian, Oratio
2.60; 1.36.D.
33 While we do not know the battle cry in German, the one in Sarmatian is known to have been
Marha, Marha, “Death, Death!” (Ammianus 19.11.6). Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica 6.232.
Syme, “Argonautica” 1929, 133; Seyfarth, Ammianus Marcellinus II, 1975, 73, note 112.
34 Arrian, Tactica 44.1. Horse guard: Speidel, Riding 1994, 113 (though the Gerulata
gravestone and horse-guard recruitment show that these “Kelts” are Roman Germani, not
Quadi from beyond the frontier); see p. 257, note 25.
35 Fight well: Maurice, Strategikon 11.3.7; scorn orderliness: ibid. 11.3.22f.,
17
HORSE-STABBERS
1 Drews, End 1993, 141ff.; 175.
2 Pauli, Kelten 1980, 208; Cunliffe, Celts 1997, 70f.
3 Diodore 5.29–1. See also Strabo 3.4.18 on Celtiberians and Arrian, Anabasis 1.6.5 on
Macedonians,
4 Florence, Museo Archeologico; Kemkes and Scheuerbrand, Patrouille 1997, p. 83, fig. 91.
5 Alföldi, Reiteradel 1952, plate 4.
6 Roman horsemen: equiline painting (Alföldi, Reiteradel 1952; McCall, Cavalry 1992, 46).
7 Polybius 6.25.4; McCall, Cavalry 1992, 51f.; 69; 73ff.
8 Thucydides 7.30.2; cf. Xenophon, Anabasis 1.10.7. Collection of the American Numismatic
Society 1040; Antike Münzen Nord-Griechenlands III 2.201f.; Gaebler, “Münzkunde” 1927,
237–242, with several variant images (fig. XI.20: curved sword).
9 Livy 42.59.2f.: Italicos equites incurrerunt ut usu belli et ingenio impauida gens turbaretur; tre
[…] is hastas petere pedites […] equorumque nunc succidere crura […] is, nunc ilia
suffodere.” To hack off legs, straight spears will not do, spears with curved blades or swords
are needed. Thracian javelins and short swords: Herodotus 7.75.
10 Ryberg, Panel Reliefs 1967, 12 and fig. 4b.
11 Caesar, Gallic War 4.12–15. The horses, meanwhile, stayed in place: Caesar, Gallic War 4.2
(wrongly declared impossible by Walser, Caesar 1956, 63). Usipi and Tencteri: Schmidt,
Westgermanen 1970, 409–419
12 Gauls still knew mixed foot and horse tactics, though: Caesar, Gallic War 7.18.1: “cum
equitatu expeditisque qui inter equites proeliari consuessent”; 80.3–7: “Galli inter equites
raros sagittarios expeditesque levis armaturae interiecerant qui suis cedentibus auxilio
succurrerent et nostrorum equitum inpetus sustinerent.”
13 Caesar, African War 40: “qui ex Curionis proelio capti conservatique parem gratiam in fide
pariter tuenda praestare voluerunt.” Cf. Speidel, Riding 1994, 155f., with note 205; Speidel,
“Garde” 1995. Sagas: Heimskringla, Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar 41; Njals saga 153; 157.
.

Notes 241
14 Assuming they came with the elder Crassus; but they could also have come with the younger
Crassus in winter 54/53 BC (Plutarch, Crassus 17.7).
15 Plutarch, Crassus 25.2: Greek terms for Gauls and Germani: Haas, “Germanen”
1943/44, 76; Paschoud, Zosime 1971–1989, I, 204; III/2, 152.
16 Plutarch, Crassus 25; the scene is paralleled by Heliodore, Aethiopica 9.14ff., see p. 160, this
volume.
17 Compare the “Galli Germanique” in Egypt in 55 BC: Caesar, Civil War 3.4.3; 3.4.4 and
Caesar’s Gauls and Germani in 48 BC in the East: Alexandrian War 17; 29f.; Speidel, Riding
1994, 13.
18 Civil War 3.52.2; cf. 1.83.
19 Caesar, Civil War 3.89.4; 3.93.5. Plutarch, Pompey 69.2; Caesar 44.2; Frontinus 2.3.22;
Appian, Civil Wars 2.76. If auxiliary cohorts 500 strong, rather than legionary ones at 275–
300 were meant, then six of them were indeed 3,000 strong as the sources say. Contra:
Kraner et al., Commentarii 1968, 272f. Most daring: Appian, Civil Wars 2.76,
. For the battle see Paschoud, “Mouvement” 1995.
20 Florus, Epitoma 2.13.48: “Germanorum cohortes tantum in effusos equites fecere impetum
ut illi esse pedites, hi venire in equis viderentur.”
21 Mommsen, Geschichte 3, 1882, 427; Kraner et al., Commentarii 1968, 272f.
22 Vegetius 3.14.8–11.
23 Caesar, Gallic War 1.48.5. See p. 8, this volume.
24 See Tacitus Agricola 36.2 and Annals 2.21.1.
25 Vercingetorix: Caesar, Gallic War 7.67.
26 Tacitus, Annals 1.65: “Arminius…cum delectis scindit agmen equisque maxime vulnera
ingerit. Illi sanguine suo et lubrico paludum lapsantes excussis rectoribus disicere obvios,
proterere iacentes…Caecina…suffosso equo.”
27 See pp. 160; 166. Compare Arrian, Anabasis 1.16 (battle at the Granicus river); Caesar, Civil
War 3.84.3f.
28 For example, the gravestone of Bassus, Köln, Römisch-Germanisches Museum. CIL XIII,
8308; Gabelmann, “Grabmonumente” 1973, 172 (about AD 96); Schleiermacher,
Reitergrabsteine 1984, 17. The origin of this scene on Mainz grave-stones: Gabelmann,
“Grabmonumente” 161f.
29 CIL XIII, 7029; Schleiermacher, Reitergrabsteine 1984, 26; Boppert, Grabdenkmäler 1992,
no. 31.
30 Boppert, Grabdenkmäler 1992, no. 31, p. 135; my observation to the contrary comes from a
study of the original in Mainz. Klein-Pfeuffer, Fibeln 1993, 174, takes the gesture to be
reaching for the bridle.
31 Gravestones: CIL XIII 7052; Schleiermacher, Reitergrabsteine 1984, 27; Boppert,
Grabdenkmäler 1992, no. 33. Unlike more recent authors, Schumacher and Klumbach,
Germanendarstellungen 1935, 59, recognized Romanius’ use of a coat to guard his arm.
Literary sources: Caesar, Civil War 1.75: “sinistras sagis involvunt, gladiosque destringent,
ita se a caetratis equitibusque defendunt.” Tacitus, Histories 5.22.2: “pauci ornatu militari,
plerique circum bracchia torta veste et strictis mucronibus”; cf. Petronius, Satyricon 63.
32 Procopius, Persian War 2.25; Paul the Deacon 1.20; Jordanes, Getica 23. The coat around
the arm would leave them with only their genitals covered, just as Paul the Deacon says, cf.
Widengren, Feudalismus 1969, 50.
33 For Dexileos’ foe being naked to show his helplessness, see Ridgway, Styles 1997, 7, and, in
a more general way, Himmelmann, Nacktheit 1990, 38; 40f.
34 Greek models: Mackintosh, “Horseman” 1986. Roman art typically began with traditional
models, then added realistic touches: Schumacher and Klumbach, Germanendarstellungen
1935, 59ff.; Speidel, Denkmäler 1994, 5f.

Notes 242
35 Gravestone of Dexileos, Athens, 394 BC. Josephus, Jewish War 3.488; 490; Panegyrici
Latini 4.29.5; Zosimus 1.50.4; Speidel, Riding 1994, 108.
36 Similar gravestones from the Rhine frontier: Reburrus; Bassus; Andes; Annauso; Cantaber;
Freioverus; Anonymi; Dolanus; Ingenuus; Leubius; Licinus; Anonymus: Schleiermacher,
Reitergrabsteine 1984, 6; 17; 20; 21; 22; 24; 31; 32; 38; 42; 45; 46; 47. Troops from Roman
Germany brought the motif to Britain, where it seems to have lived on meaningfully:
Schleiermacher, Reitergrabsteine 1984, 69; 72–83; perhaps the British continued the earlier
Celtic fighting style. In Mauretania and Numidia, on the other hand, the barbarians
underhoof are mainly stuff for victory (Schleiermacher, Reitergrabsteine 1984, nos. 55; 56;
57; 59; 61; 62; see also 95 and 101).
37 Tacitus, Germania 6.3: “centeni.”
38 H. Mattingly, BMC II, page L and no. 622, and the slightly later no. 643, plate 25.2. BMC II,
plate 26.3 (Vespasian) is illustrated in Scott-Ryberg, Panel Reliefs 1967, fig. 4a. Scott-
Ryberg, Panel Reliefs 12, mistakes Vespasian’s coin as referring to the Jewish War. Firstcentury
four- and six-cornered shields Germanic: Schumacher and Klumbach,
Germanendarstellungen 1935, 58; Raddatz, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 425.
39 Scott-Ryberg, Panel Reliefs 1967, 12, traces the type.
40 Sestertius of Domitian, RIC 284. Domitian has the warrior rear up rather more: BMC II, no.
339, plate 73.2. Fame at home: Caesar, Gallic War 1.48; cf. Tacitus, Germania 6: “honor
est.” Andes’ foe wears the Chatti hairdo of proven warriors. Wenskus, “Adel” 1973, 64.
41 From p. 158.
42 Hamberg, Studies 1945, 176–179; Andreae, “Portonaccio” 1969.
43 Cf. Patraos’ coin, note 8 above (I own such a coin with a reverse of good quality that shows
the spear well and also the decorated boots of the warrior on the ground). Germanic short
spears, 1 meter long, for close-up fighting have been found: Raddatz, “Bewaffnung” 1976,
427. For dropping on one’s knee, see p. 158, this volume.
44 Tacitus, Germania 6.3.
45 Contra: Steuer, “Kriegswesen” 2001, 364.
46 Heliodore, Aethiopica 9–18. On the thighs the armor ends.
47 For other third-century traits see Altheim, Literatur 1948, 108ff.
48 Tribal troops of Gordian III fighting in the East in 244: Res Gestae Divi Saporis 7; Speidel
Studies I, 1984, 713f. Altheim, Literatur 1948, 112, rightly saw Heliodore’s “Blemmyes”
sword fighters doing something different to what Aurelianus’ club-men did at Hemesa in AD
272. For club-wielders at Hemesa in AD 272, see p. 94f.
49 Ammianus 16.12.22: “Norant enim licet prudentem ex equo bellatorem cum clibanario
nostro congressum frena retinentem et scutum, hastam una manu vibrante tegminibus ferreis
abscondito bellatori nocere non posse. Peditem vero inter ipsos discriminum vertices cum
nihil caveri solet praeter id quod occurrit, humiliter occulte reptantem latere forato iumenti
incautum rectorem praecipitem agere levi negotio trucidandum.”
50 Horses: Panegyrici Latini 4.23: “crurum tenus.” Claudian, In Rufinum 2.361: “par vestitus
equis.” Riders: see the Dura-Europos graffitto, e.g. Gamber, “Waffen” 1964, fig. 22.
Clibanarii: Speidel, Studies II 1992, 406–413.
51 Ammianus 16.12.21f. and 16.12.38, though he is not explicit about their deed.
52 Libanius Oratio 18.265.
53 Nikephoros II Phokas, Praecepta Militaria I.125ff. (Geer, Sowing 1994, 19; 270).
54 On Coptic weavings, too, military saints ride serenely over kneeling or running men that stab
their horses with spears from below: silk sleeve from Achmim, now in the Victoria and
Albert Museum, London. Böhner, “Eschwege” 1991, p. 708 and plate 66.
55 Hauck, “Adelskultur” 1957(Zeitschrift für Württembergische Landesgeschichte; for
corrections see Böhner, “Eschwege” 1991, 710); Beck, Bilddenkmäler 1964, 40ff.; Hauck,
“Polytheismus” 1994, 224ff.; Böhner and Quast, “Grabfunde” 1994 (with reasons for the
date); Fuchs, Alamannen 1997, 282; 436.

Notes 243
56 The lance is long and thick, even more so than in the corresponding Swedish pictures, yet
winged lances could serve for throwing, as seen e.g. in the Stuttgarter Psalter (Last,
“Bewaffnung” 1976, 468, fig. 102). On lances thrown see also Beck, Bilddenkmäler 1964,
34, and p. 138, this volume. On the other hand, the foil of the helmet from Valsgarde grave 7
shows an enemy stabbed (Hauck, “Polytheismus” 1994, 233, fig. 17).
57 Discovered by Hauck, “Adelskultur” 1957, 6; confirmed by Böhner, “Eschwege” 1991, 708.
58 Böhner, “Eschwege” 1991, 708.
59 Davidson, Sword 1962, 190; Beck, Bilddenkmäler 1964, 23f.; Böhner, “Eschwege” 1991,
709; 714: “Reiterheilige” (even Coptic); Hauck, “Polytheismus” 1994, 232:
“Formenrepertoire der imperialen Münzprägung und Triumphalkunst”; 241: “In prinzipieller
Abhängigkeit von den Konventionen der imperialen Münzpropaganda und Triumphalkunst.”
60 Klein-Pfeuffer, Fibeln 1993, 174. Mainz was the center for reliefs with foes beneath
horsemen: Gabelmann, “Grabmonumente” 1973, 161f. Contra Quast,
“Kriegerdarstellungen” 2002, 271: “Bestenfalls noch als ‘Ruinen’ wahrgenommen …sehr
unwahrscheinlich.”
61 Lions: Schleiermacher, Reitergrabsteine 1984, 17; 29; 42; 43; 45; 76; 79. Böhner,
“Eschwege” 1991, 709, takes the lions for “Mediterranean.” Beck, Bilddenkmäler 1964, 40,
sees their jumping towards one another as a “Germanic version.” It is hard to see how
Böhner and Quast, “Grabfunde” 1994, 389 and 394, find a Christian Arbor Vitae between
the two lions. For the small figure on the horse see also CIL III, 4061=Schleiermacher,
Reitergrabsteine 1984, 107 (Pettau, but in the Mainz tradition: Gabelmann,
“Grabmonumente” 1973, 161); cf. Speidel, Denkmäler 1994, 535 (Rome). Helper: Klein-
Pfeuffer, Fibeln 1993, 174f. Even the horse-stabber’s crossed legs as seen on the
Pliezhausen, Sutton Hoo, and Valsgarde foils are somehow prefigured by the horse-stabber’s
half-crossed legs on Dolanus’ gravestone that almost look like the medieval stabber’s
attempt to make the horse stumble.
62 See the corresponding foil on the helmet from grave 8 at Valsgarde: Hauck, “Polytheismus”
1994, p. 233, fig. 17.
63 Sutton Hoo: Bruce-Mitford, Sutton Hoo 1978, 190ff.
64 Arwidsson, Valsgarde 1977, 121, saw the connection between the gravestones and the
Swedish scenes but missed the Pliezhausen foil.
65 Valsgarde 7, II, right-hand side; Hauck, “Wiedergabe” 1981, 231ff.; Hauck, “Polytheismus”
1994, fig. 17, p. 233.
66 CIL XIII, 6233=Schleiermacher, Reitergrabsteine 1984, no. 45; Boppert, Steindenkmäler
1998, no. 49.
67 Arwidsson, Valsgärde 1977, Abb. 128; Bruce-Mitford, Sutton Hoo 1978, 217, fig. 164a.
68 Valsgarde, grave 8, cf. Hauck, “Bilddenkmäler” 1976, 592, Abb. 116. Rhenish bridle holder:
gravestone of T.Statilius Taurus from Mainz: Boppert, Grabdenkmäler 1992, no. 37. Groom:
Boppert, Grabdenkmäler 1992, no. 37, cf. Schleiermacher, Reitergrabsteine 1984, nos. 90;
93. Klein-Pfeuffer, Fibeln 1993, 174, mistakes the sword blow as reaching for the bridle,
thereby robbing herself of the best proof for the origin of the Pliezhausen image from the
Mainz gravestones.
69 Coins: Beck, Bilddenkmäler 1964, 24f. Correct: Klein-Pfeuffer, Fibeln 1993, 174.
70 Contra Böhner, “Eschwege” 1991, 714; “barbarische Umdeutungen christlicher Vorbilder,”
ibid. 716. The bridle-holder, then, comes not from the Roman image of Victoria, pace Beck,
Bilddenkmäler 1964, 33.
71 See p. 27.
72 Perhaps the gold foil itself at first graced a helmet, for once larger, it was later cut to fit the
round border: Böhner, “Eschwege” 1991, 710. The foils of known Swedish and English
Vendel helmets are of bronze, but Germanic kings, if they could, wore golden helmets: see
p. 188.

Notes 244
73 Hauck, “Adelskultur” 1957; Böhner, “Eschwege” 1991, 707ff.; 710; Böhner and Quast,
“Grabfunde” 1994, 390: “Sonst unverständlich.”
74 Arwidsson, Valsgärde 1977, figs. 25; 26; cf. Böhner, “Eschwege” 1991, 712f. Also Vendel,
grave 1, as illustrated in Böhner, “Eschwege” 1991, 715.
75 The diameter of the Pliezhausen disc is 6.9 cm, while none of the phalerae quoted by Böhner,
“Eschwege” 1991, 710, are less than 8.7 cm. Size as argument: Hauck, “Adelskultur” 1957,
6; Böhner, “Eschwege” 1991, 710.
76 The Obrigheim foil (Figure 1.5) too may have served as a helmet decoration (see p. 31).
Remarkably, the Sutton Hoo helmet is closer to Pliezhausen than to Vendel or Valsgärde 7
and 8, for rider and helper, as noted by Hauck, “Wiedergabe” 1981, 255, wear no helmets.
Cultural exchanges between Alamannia and Sweden: Böhner, “Eschwege” 1991, 703; 716;
722ff.; in the field of personal names: Beck, “Stanzen” 1968, 238.
77 “Reichsideologie” (Steuer, “Ringschwert” 1987) is too strong a concept, though, for sixthcentury
Alamannia. “Religiös-kultische Ideologie” (Steuer, “Ringschwert” 1999, 334) seems
better, or “Ausdruck einer eigenen Identität” (Quast, “Kriegerdarstellunger” 2002, 276).
Runes: Stocklund, “Runes” 2003, 178. Woden: Hauck, “Uppakra” 2002. Contacts in Roman
times already: Lund-Hansen, Himlingøje 1995, 416.
78 Beck, Bilddenkmäler 1964, 44f. “Wyrd”: Beowulf 455; 477; 734; 1205; 2420; 2526; 2574;
2814.
79 Beck, Bilddenkmäler 1964, 40.
80 A single dragon may have perched on the Pliezhausen dancer’s head (as on the Års
medallion and the Vindonissa foil), but the traces are too faint to be certain. Dioscuri: Hauck,
“Polytheism” 1994, 236. Virtus, egg on: see p. 120. Contra: Hauck, “Polytheismus” 1994,
237; 240: “Rettung aus Kampfnot.” Steuer, “Ringschwert” 1999, 334: “Sieghelfer.”
81 Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla, Ynglinga saga 9.
82 The horse-stabber’s aristocratic cloak and his not being hurt also speak against his fighting
“dirty,” contra Beck, Bilddenkmäler 1964, 40. If Ammianus 16.12.22 implies a judgement, it
is that of an enemy.
83 “Nicht getreten”: Beck, Bilddenkmäler 1964, 39; “unversehrt”: Klein-Pfeuffer, Fibeln 1993,
174. Contra: Böhner and Quast, “Grabfunde” 1994, 389: “sterbend.”
84 There is no substance to the claim that he is “überwunden,” contra Böhner and Quast,
“Grabfunde” 1994, 389.
85 Contra: Arwidsson, Valsgärde 1977, 121, who sees in the horsemen Roman “legionaries”
hired in free Germany. Of our three examples, Andes (Figure 18.1) comes from Dalmatia,
Romanius (Figure 17.1) from Noricum, Dolanus (Figure 17.2) from Thrace—in this they are
typical.
86 Herodotus 5.111f.; Plutarch, Crassus 25; Heliodore, Aethiopica 9.14ff.; Zosimus 1.52f.;
Panegyrici Latini 4.23f.; Libanius, Oratio 59.110 (Förster 263, 19ff.); Libanius, Oratio
18.265.
87 Sixth-century lancer attacks: see p. 140.
88 Konungs Skuggsjá p. 156, after Beck, Bilddenkmäler 1964, 38f. Compare the Merovingian
gleven. Wieczorek, Franken 1996, II, 703.
89 Bracteates: Hauck, “Polytheismus” 1994, 210.
90 Beowulf 884ff.; 2697ff.; Saxo Grammaticus 36.24f.: “Ventre sub imo/esse locum scito, quo
ferrum mergere fas est”; see Davidson and Fisher, Saxo 1979, II, 39; even when the slayer
rides on horseback, as on the Seengen disc. Edda, Fáfnismál, Introduction; Blindheim,
Billedkunst 1972. The snake with the horseman from Vendel, grave 1, may be Woden
himself rather than a dragon to be fought (Böhner, “Eschwege” 1991, pp. 176f. and fig. 28.2,
contra Hauck, “Bilddenkmäler” 1976, 591).
91 Army units being dragons: Letter of Marcus (Haines, Fronto 1963, 300ff.); Lucian, Hist.
Cons. 29-Indo-European myth: Widengren, Feudalismus 1969, 46; Watkins, Dragon, 1995.
Sword from underneath: Beck, Bilddenkmäler 1964, 20f. Germanic languages adopted Latin

Notes 245
“draco” for “dragon” from Roman army standards, even though they had their own word,
“worm”: Höfler, Siegfried 1961, 99ff.; Ploss, Siegfried 1966, 68.
92 Compare the Ramsund carving, Wild, Drachen 1962, Abb. 1; Hauck, “Bilddenkmäler” 1957,
366ff.; Beck, Bilddenkmäler 1964, 20f.; Hauck, “Bilddenkmäler” 1976, 596f.; Ploss,
Siegfried 1966, 66–68; Düwel, Runenkunde 2001, 140–141.
18
HORSE-HEWERS
1 Herodotus 5.110f; “with a curved sword”: . Bronze Age curved swords: Drews,
End 1993, 141–163; 196f.; cf. Macqueen, Hittites 1986, 32.
2 Drews, End 1993, 195f.; the slightly curved, tip-heavy Greek macheira saber, however, was a
savage weapon: Connolly, Greece 1981, 98f.
3 Livy 44.26 (after Polybios): “Veniebant decem milia equitum, par numerus peditum et
ipsorum iungentium cursum equis et in vicem prolapsorum equitum vacuos capientium ad
pugnam equos.” Wenskus, Stammesbildung 1961, 380f.; Much, Germania 1967, 148f.;
Timpe, “Germanen” 1998, 204–206.
4 Caesar, Gallic War 1.48: “Genus hoc erat pugnae, quo se Germani exercuerant: equitum milia
erant sex, totidem numero pedites velocissimi ac fortissimi, quos ex omni copia singuli
singulos suae salutis causa delegerant; cum his in proeliis versabantur, ad eos se equites
recipiebant; hi, si quid erat durius, concurrebant; si qui graviore vulnere accepto equo
deciderat, circumsistebant; si quo erat longius prodeundum aut celerius recipiendum, tanta
erat horum exercitatione celeritas, ut iubis equorum sublevati cursum adaequarent.” Caesar,
Gallic War 1.48; 8.13; Dio 38.48.2; Tacitus, Germania 6.3; Ammianus 16.12.21f.; Libanius
Or. 18.265. Vegetius 3.16 finds this still useful. Wenskus, Stammesbildung 1961, 336.
5 Caesar, Gallic War 7.65: “Trans Rhenum in Germaniam mittit ad eas civitates quas
superioribus annis pacaverat equitesque ab his arcessit et levis armaturae pedites qui inter
eos proeliari consuerant.” 7.67; 8.13: “Germani quos propterea Caesar transduxerat Rhenum
ut equitibus interpositi proeliarentur”; 8.36.3f. Tacitus, Germania 6.3. Walser, Caesar 1956,
62.
6 Rosenberg, Hjortspringfundet 1937, 40f., swords 521; 517; 523; Raddatz, “Bewaffnung”
1976, 371, fig. 78f. The swords are kept in the National Museum in Copenhagen where Dr
Jørgensen kindly discussed them with me in June 1999. The blades are 2.6 cm, 2 cm, and 2.3
cm broad.
7 Compare the warrior wielding a scythe and a sword on the shorter Gallehus horn (Axboe et
al., “Gallehus” 1998, 335, fig. 43).
8 Coin: Forrer, Numismatik 1965, 290f., fig. 491. Sword: von Schnurbein, “Sica” 1979, fig. 1.
Wooden swords: Capelle, “Erkenntnismöglichkeiten” 1982, 284. Dirk: Gordon, “Swords”
1953, 67; Adler, Studien 1993, 63. Another curved sword or dagger, resembling the Greek,
Etruscan, and Iberian macheira, lies at the feet of a furclad Germanic warrior on the arch of
Carpentras in France, built at the beginning of our era: Walter, Barbares 1993, 21ff., with
plate IX; Cunliffe, Celts 1977, plate XXa.
9 Gabelmann, “Grabmonumente” 1973, 153f., fig. 20. The sword of Rufus’ foe at Gloucester
(RIB 121; Schleiermacher, Reitergrabsteine 1984, 79) is also curved: troops from Roman
Germany brought the scene to Britain.
10 Crous, “Waffenpfeiler” 1933, 103, type 102.
11 CIL XIII, 7023; Gabelmann, “Grabmonumente” 1973, 165 (around AD 75); Schleiermacher,
Reitergrabsteine 1984, 97ff., no. 20; Boppert, Grabdenkmäler 1992, 141ff., no. 33.
12 A sharp bend is also found in the sickle sword on the Gallehus horn: Axboe et al.,
“Gallehus” 1998, 335, fig. 43.

Notes 246
13 For the curved sword on Trajan’s Column, scene 38, see p. 229, note 36; against foot: note
25 this chapter.
14 Hamberg, Studies 1945, 176–179; Andreae, “Portonaccio” 1969.
15 Compare the young Heruls who fought without shields (Procopius, Persian War 2.25), also
for speed (Jordanes, Getica 23), see p. 64, this volume, or the barefoot British (Dio 77.12.2).
16 Caesar, Civil War 1.75; Tacitus, Histories 5.22.2. If the wrap was not a coat but an animal
skin, it reflects Indo-European usage, known e.g. from Arcadians (Pausanias 1.3).
17 Hamberg, Studies 1945, 176, with the remark that the eagle shows the number IIII—if so, it
belongs to legio quarta Flavia, stationed at Singidunum-Beograd (Ritterling, “Legio” 1924,
1543).
18 Christlein, Alemannen 1979, 113; Fuchs, Alamannen 1997, 88ff.; Steuer, “Theorien” 1998,
291f. Compare the clubs and hammers of Donar: Werner, “Herkuleskeule” 1964. Second- or
third-century miniature weapons are typical for Elbgermanen (Capelle, “Miniaturgeräte”
2001, 46), the ones who haunted the Danubian frontier. Symbolic value among the Vikings
still: Steuer, “Kriegswesen” 2001, 367.
19 Germanic bronze guards for horse heads: Wilbers-Rost, Pferdegeschirr 1994. Dr Hanns Ubl
will publish the Enns piece.
20 Ilkjær, “Gegner” 1997.
21 Cf. Speidel, Denkmäler 1994, 238.
22 Adler, Studien 1993, 260.
23 Cf. Livy 26.4.4.
24 For this relationship see Wenskus, Stammesbildung 1961, 380f.
25 Tacitus, Germania 6: “ex omni iuventute delectos”; Livy 26.4.4: “iuvenes”; Caesar, Civil
War 3.84: “adulescentes”. Johrendt, “Milites” 1976. Roots of knighting: Höfler,
“Kontinuitätsproblem” 1937, 25; Keen, Chivalry 1984, 64ff. In the Middle Ages, northerners
still wielded curved swords, but we do not hear whether they used them against horses.
Axboe et al., “Gallehus” 1998, 335, fig. 43; Hauck, “Germania-Texte” 1982, 195, fig. 8,
where Wenskus, “Religion” 1994, 231f. sees Saturn with a scythe. In Beowulf (37:
bil=falchion) the weapon is often mentioned, see Klaeber, Beowulf 1950, index 307. A
curved sword on a bracteate medallion: IK 107. Norwegian curved swords: Davidson, Sword
1962, 41. Eleventh century: Paulsen, Axt 1939, 225, fig. 134. A curved sword against foot:
Saxo 26, 28f.
19
LONG-HAIRS
1 Celtic hairstyles: Birkhan, Kelten 1997, 1061ff. Iranians, Indians: Warrior vase from Tepe
Sialk; Widengren, Feudalismus 1969, 19; 34ff. Greeks: Iliad 2.542: ;
Strabo 10.3.2. Celts: Strabo 3.3.7; see also the Watsch belt-buckle, Mallory, Search 1989,
plate 13. Italic tribes: Aeneid 11.642f.; Ligurians: Lucanus, Pharsalia 442f. Spartan saying:
Xenophon, Lacedaemonians 10.3; Plutarch, Lycurgus 22.1.
2 Thor and Indra: Thrymsquida 1: scor nam at dýia; Ŗg Veda 10.23; Schroeder, Ursprung 1939,
337f. Altheim, Niedergang I, 1952, 117, traces the Indo-European origins of this tactic and
its role in ecstatic fighting; Miller, “Hair” 1998, 43. Gilgamesh shook his hair back after he
overcame Humbaba: Widengren, Feudalismus 1969, 37. Long-haired Vedic Indians: Bollée,
“Sodalities” 1981, 174; 190; Iranians: Binder, Aussetzung 1964, 35. Lusitani: Appian,
Iberika 67, cf. Strabo 3.154f.; Norden, Urgeschichte 1974, 164.
3 Ammianus 16.12.36: “eorumque ultra solitum saevientium comae fluentes.” A literary
commonplace: Norden, Urgeschichte 1974, 164. Flashing eyes: see p. 69f.

Notes 247
4 Goths: Eunapius VI, frag. 37 (Blockley), 9f. (Excerpta de leg. gent. 5). Byzantine private
guards, aping the imperial guard: Gregory of Nyssa, De creatione hominis II (p. 63,
Hörner):
.
5 Hamðismál 20: “Scóc hann scor iarpa,” not “flung back his hair” as in Dronke, Edda I, 1969,
165.
6 Well-kempt: Tukulti-Ninurta epic 3.30ff.; Herodotus 7.208; Plutarch, Lycurgus 22.1;
Sidonius, Carmina 12 (Burgundians of the “crinigera caterva” kept their hair together with
rancid butter). McCone, “Hund” 1987, 126f.; Demandt, Staatsformen 1995, 632f.; Miller,
“Hair” 1998. Bother: Maurice, Strategikon 12.B.1. Spartans: Herodotus 7.208; Xenophon,
Lacedaimonians 10.3; Plutarch, Lycurgus 22.1. Thracians: Iliad 4.533; silver bridal
decoration from Letnitsa, Bulgaria (Cunliffe, Prehistory 1994, 385). Lusitani: Strabo 3.3.7.
7 Norden, Urgeschichte 1974, 207ff.; 265–274; Schmidt, Westgermanen 1970, 352; Perl,
Germania 1990, 212: “Die sachkundigen Einzelheiten gehen wohl auf einen Augenzeugen
der Feldzüge zurück (z.B. Pomponius Secundus, ann. 12, 27ff., war mit dem älteren Plinius
bekannt: Pliny, Nat. 18.83; 14.56; Pliny, Epist. 3.5.4). A less flattering verdict about Pliny:
Walser, Rom 1951, 65. Observation as a source of Tacitus’ Germania: Bringmann, “Topoi”
1989, criticized by Lund, “Germania” 1991, 2211. Comments (though not those of Norden)
on the sources and trust-worthiness of the Germania: Lund, “Germania” 1991, 2215–2222;
Perl, Germania 1990, 38–45; Rives, Tacitus 1999, 249f.
8 Tacitus, Germania 31 (Winterbottom 1975; also Furneaux 1884): “Et aliis Germanorum
populis usurpatum raro et privata cuiusque audentia apud Chattos in consensum vertit, ut
primum adoleverint crinem barbamque submittere nec nisi hoste caeso exuere votivum
obligatumque virtuti oris habitum. Super sanguinem et spolia revelant frontem seque tum
demum pretia nascendi rettulisse dignosque patria ac parentibus ferunt. Ignavis et imbellibus
manet squalor. Fortissimus quisque ferreum insuper anulum (ignominiosum id genti) velut
vinculum gestat, donec se caede hostis absolvat. Plurimis Chattorum hic placet habitus,
iamque canent insignes et hostibus simul suisque monstrati. Omnium penes hos initia
pugnarum; haec prima semper acies, visu nova. Nam ne in pace quidem cultu mitiore
mansuescunt. Nulli domus aut ager aut aliqua cura; prout ad quemque venere, aluntur,
prodigi alieni, contemptores sui, donec exsanguis senectus tam durae virtuti impares faciat.”
Much, Germania 1967, 385–392; Lund, “Germania” 1991, 1926f.; 2126f. Hairstyle:
Demandt, Staatsformen 1995, 548.
9 For example, Fehrle, Germania 1929, 39 (= 1959, 45); Weiser, Jünglingsweihen 1927, 33;
Clemen, “Altersklassen” 1938; Höfler, Rumenstein 1952, 190: “diese geweihte Tracht des
Hauptes, durch die sie sich zur Tapferkeit verpflichten, abzulegen.” They all mistake os
(face) for Haupt (head). Lund, Tacitus 1988, 95, omits os altogether: “Haartracht”; Perl,
Germania 1990, 109: “Kopf”; Fuhrmann, Germania 1972, 45, rightly translates “Gesicht”
but then goes on to claim “Haarwust” for the elite warriors (p. 85); Weiser-Aall,
“Chattenkrieger” 1932, “Zweimal dieselbe Maske.” Ulrich, “Einschaltung” 1936, 132: “Die
grössere Zahl der Jünglinge legen, wenn sie einen Feind erschlagen haben, die wüste
Haartracht ab. Die Schar der Auserlesenen aber trägt diese als Ehrenzeichen bis an ihr
Ende.” Much, Germania 1967, 386: “die Haare geschnitten”; Timpe, “Absicht” 1989, 126:
“Bartablegung.” Best: Birley, Tadtus 1999, 53 (“fece”).
10 Tacitus, Germania 38.20: “Capillum retro pectuntur ac saepe in ipso vertice religant.”
11 Perl, Germania 1990, 214, was on the right track: “vielleicht blieb die Stirn frei.”
12 Ritterling, “Legio” 1924, 1696. Strobel, “Chattenkrieg” 1987. Hänggi, “Bataver” 1990.
13 Vindonissa Museum, Brugg, Inv. 770; Hartmann, Römer 1985, fig. 23. The wreath and the
palm leaf on the tile hint of triumph, the inscription hails “l(egio) XI C(laudia) p(ia)
f(idelis).” There are lines down the young man’s neck, but they are not a hairband, for a band

Notes 248
tied behind the head would have to come forward from the sides. Thus the lines down the
neck are tendons, cf. Hänggi, “Bataver” 1990, 69: “Versuch einer Halsmuskelwiedergabe.”
14 Vindonissa Museum, Brugg, Inv. 3050; Hartmann, Römer 1985, fig. 27. Hänggi, “Bataver”
1990, 71, interprets the hairband as “staffs” (“Die beiden unterhalb der Ohren ansetzenden
Stangen könnten darauf hinweisen, dass dieser Kopf trotz erkennbarem Halsansatz
aufgespiesst war”), however a round hairband of just this shape is seen on the Vindonissa
roof tile, inv. no. 4225: Hartmann, Römer 1985, fig. 25.
15 Hänggi, “Bataver” 1990, 70f.: “Sein Bart wirkt etwas kürzer, vielleicht sogar gepflegter.”
Tacitus does not say that the Chatti threw off their beards, pace Timpe, “Absicht” 1989, 126:
“Bartablegung.”
16 Nor need the unproven and cowards be killed off lest they be mistaken for leading warriors,
contra: Weiser-Aall, “Chattenkrieger” 1932.
17 Fuhrmann, Germania 1972, 85; Timpe, “Absicht” 1989, 126.
18 Gabelmann, “Grabmonumente” 1973, 165 (around AD 75); Schleiermacher,
Reitergrabsteine 1984, 97ff., no. 20; Boppert Grabdenkmäler 1992, 141ff., no 33.
19 Schumacher and “Klumbach, Germanendarstellungen 1935, 71: “Auf dem Scheitel
zusammengebunden.”
20 Nudi: Tacitus, Germania 6. See p. 167, this volume.
21 Schumacher and Klumbach, Germanendarstellungen 1935, no. 72; Schleiermacher,
Reitergrabsteine 1984, 136f., no. 45; Boppert, Steindenkmaler 1998, 83ff., no. 49.
22 Landesdenkmalamt Koblenz-Ehrenbreitstein; Gabelmann, “Grabmonumente” 1973, fig. 10.
23 See Romanius’ gravestone, Mainz (Figure 17.1); Schleiermacher, Reitergrabsteine 1984,
110; Boppert, Grabdenkmäler 1992, 31; also Carminius’ gravestone (Figure 19.1).
24 Jean Krier, “Der Sterbende Gallier,” Antike Kunst 31, 2000, 80.
25 A captured woman, comforting a fettered prisoner, is found also on the Halberstadt Diptych:
Schumacher and Klumbach, Germanendarstellungen 1935, 166.
26 Gabelmann, “Grabmonumente” 1973, 145, fig. 12. See Figure 5.2 and p. 62, this volume.
27 The gravestone of Longinus at Colchester portrays the hair squalor of the warrior on the
ground. Perhaps a motif brought along from Germany.
28 No ponytails aside from Andes’ and Carminius’ gravestones are found in Schumacher and
Klumbach, Germanendarstellungen 1935 (esp. p. 69), nor in Paulovics,
“Germanendarstellungen” 1934, Hamberg, “Germanen” 1936, or Krierer, “Ritt” 1997.
Schmidt, Westgermanen 1970, 365, claims, against Tacitus’ evidence, that Chattian hairstyle
was no different from that of other tribes.
29 Schumacher and Klumbach, Germanendarstellungen 1935, 59f.
30 Contra Rives, Tacitus 1999, 249: “There is no other evidence for this custom.”
31 Davie, Evolution 1929, 15; Freeman, Report 1970, 238, says of the Iban of Sarawak: “When
he had taken a head, and only then, was an Iban male entitled to have the back of his hand
tattooed. With this achieved, his prowess was on constant display …and he was much sought
after as a husband.” Cf. Turney-High, War 1991, 84ff.; 145; 149; 162.
32 Clendinnen, Aztecs 1991, 113. Accomplished warriors were shorn: Salmoral, America 1990,
202; Clendinnen, Aztecs 1991, 117; Hassig, War 1992, 142.
33 Neumann, “Chatten” 1981; Birkhan, “Namenselement” 1967, 117 and 138f., even though he
now takes the name of the Hessians to be different (Kelten 1997, 834).
34 Hamberg, “Germanen” 1936, rightly points out that Roman literary and artistic portrayals of
Germani echo one another. Lund’s objection of “Zeitgeist” (“Germania” 1991, 2053) falls on
himself. A searching discussion: Timpe, “Absicht” 1989.
35 Hairdo as ethnic identification: Eusebius, Vita Constantini 4.7.1; Demandt, Staatsformen
1995, 548. Tacitus’ words were not written against Roman emperors (contra Lund,
“Germania” 1991, 1934; 2159; cf. Timpe, “Absicht” 1989, 107). For a comparable
gravestone with a “Suebian knot” see that of Cantaber from Mainz: Schleiermacher,

Notes 249
Reitergrabsteine, 1984, no. 22; Boppert, Grabdenkmäler 1992, no 30. Germani in the minor
arts: Paulovics, “Germanendarstellungen” 1934; RadnotiAlfbldi, “Plebs” 1994.
36 Tacitus, Germania 31: “haec semper prima acies, visu nova”; ibid. 38. One can see the plight
of Caligula and Domitian who, for their Chatti triumphs, bought Germanic prisoners on the
slave market, but then had to make their hair look Chatti-like. Suetonius, Caligula, 47;
Tacitus, Agricola 39.
37 Aeneid 9.610ff.; Horsfall, “Romulus” 1971, 1112f. Lund’s comparison with philosophers
(“Germania” 1991, 1927) goes to the wrong context.
38 Tacitus, Histories 4.61.1: “Civilis barbaro voto post coepta adversus Romanos arma
propexum (=over his forehead) rutilatumque crinem patrata demum caede legionum
deposuit.” See also Voluspa 33 “ne hofuð kemði”; Baldrs draumar 11; Much, Germania
1967, 38. A similar Roman custom (Suetonius, Iulius 67.2; Augustus 23.2) may be rather a
gesture of mourning as suggested by Rives, Tacitus 1999, 250.
39 Relatives: Wenskus, Stammesbildung 1961, 365 and 424.
40 Saxo 179.37f.: “Renodat caesariem et laxos patitur fluitare capillos.”
41 Suebi: Much, Germania 1967, 427ff. Franks: plaque from Grésin, Salin, Civilization 1959,
plate XI, facing p. 400; 573. Sixth-century Danish bracteate medallions show Woden with a
braid knotted in the back (Hauck, Goldbrakteaten I, 1985, 103f.). The legendary Danish hero
Starkadr held open hair unbecoming to a warrior (Saxo 179).
42 Furneaux, Germania 1884, 94; Weiser, Jünglingsweihen 1927, 43ff.; Höfler, Runenstein
1952, 192; Much, Germania 1967, 389; Fuhrmann, Germania 1972, 85; Blaney, “Berserkr”
1972, 89; Timpe, “Absicht” 1989, 126; Timpe, Studien 1995, 227; Perl, Germania 1990,
215; Davidson, Beliefs 1993, 99; Kershaw, God 2000, 43. No connection with berserks:
Wenskus, Stammesbildung 1961, 365; Rives, Tacitus 1999, 251.
43 Virtus: see p. 120. The Chatti had a shrine of Woden (Gudensberg) at their state center:
Höfler, Runenstein 1952, 155.
44 Saxo 58.23f.: “Armillas dextrae excipiant, quo fortius ictus collibrare queant et amarum
figere vulnus.” Höfler, Runenstein 1952, 191f.; Much, Germania 1967, 388.
45 Rings as a warband badge: Werner, “Armring” 1980; Steuer, “Ringschwert” 1987; Lund-
Hansen, “Goldring” 1998. Woden: Rives, Tacitus 1999, 250f. Rives’ objection that Tacitus
says nothing about animal warriors vanishes when one recognizes northern berserks as
originally mad and naked rather than animal fighters. In the north many snake-headed
wristbands were sacrificed and hence had a religious meaning: Werner, “Armring” 1980,
25–60.
46 Turney-High, War 1991, 258; Przyluski, “Loups-garous” 1940, 134f.
47 Blaney, “Berserkr” 1972, 146; Birkhan, Kelten 1997, 1046. Weiser, Jünglingsweihen 1927,
38, and Kershaw, God 2000, 46 suggest religious reasons. The Chatti had a religious
organization with a state priest: (Strabo 7.1.4, p. 292).
48 Güntert, Geschichten 1912, 9ff.; Simek, Dictionary 1993, 35.
49 Eyrbyggja saga 25: “Berserks to serve and guard you.”
50 Germania 43: “primi in omnibus proeliis oculi vincuntur.”
51 Claudian, Eutrop. 1.383f.: “detonsa Sygambria”; Maurice, Strategikon 12.B.1 (=Dennis,
Strategikon 1984, 420). Wolfram, Goten 1990, 111.
52 Tacitus, Germania 38; Appian, Celtica 8; Ammianus 16.12.24; Sidonius, Carmina 12.
Miller, “Hair” 1998, 41–60. Chnodomar: Ammianus 16.12.24. Harald Wartooth: Saxo
207.10 “Mitra auro variata capillitium redimitus in hostem progreditur,” which seems to be
old, contra Höfler, Runenstein 1952, 93; Ninck, Wodan 1935, 24. Vikings: e.g. Saxo 207.
53 Paul the Deacon, Historia Longobardorum 3.7: “Sex milia Saxonum qui bello superfuerant
devoverunt se neque barbam neque capillos incisuros, nisi se de Suavis hostibus
ulciscerentur”; Gregory of Tours, History 5.15.

Notes 250
54 Snorri Sturlusson, Haralds saga Hárfagra 23 (AD 872); Höfler, Runenstein 1952, 196f.;
Rives, Tacitus 1999, 249ff.
20
HELMET-WEARERS
1 Ŗg-Veda 8.7.25; also 5.54.11; other Vedic warriors had helmets made of several pieces:
Zimmer, Leben 1879, 298. Scythian open-work helmet: from the Ak-Burun Kurgan, now in
St Petersburg, Ermitage nr. AKB 28, cf. Sembach, Gold 1984, 127. Celtic helmets for looks:
Bruneaux and Lambot, Guerre 1987, 102ff. Golden helmets for outstanding foreigners
serving in the Roman army: Arrian, Tactica 34.2.
2 Kimmig, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 384; Cunliffe, Prehistory 1994, 330.
3 Writers: Plutarch, Marius 25 (see p. 52, this volume; Tacitus, Germania 6: “vix uni alterive
cassis aut galea”; Tacitus, Annals 2.14; Cassius Dio 38.50.2; Agathias 2.5; Alföldi,
“Helmform” 1934, 139f.; Much, Germania 1967, 144ff.; Steuer, “Ringschwert” 1987, 196f.;
Waurick, “Helm” 1999, 327f. Reworked: Enkevort and Willems, “Helmets” 1994;
Reichmann, “Schlachtfelder” 1994. Raddatz, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 374; Waurik, “Helm”
1999, 327f.
4 Cichorius, Reliefs II, 1896, 175, describes the helmets correctly thus: “Die vier anderen
Soldaten tragen dagegen eine deutliche eiserne Haube, bestehend aus einem starken Bügel,
der von der Stirn zum Hinterkopf geht und rund um den Kopf sowie von Ohr zu Ohr einen
eisernen Reifen hat; zwischen den einzelnen Eisenteilen der Haube, die durch ein eisernes
Sturmband unter dem Kinn gehalten wird, blickt deutlich das Kopfhaar hervor.”
5 “Buckelhelme,” worn during the early Empire by auxiliaries along the Rhine frontier, show
curls embossed on the bowl of the helmet and thus likewise reflect a warrior’s pride in his
hair as the seat of life (Schleiermacher, Reitergrabsteine 1984, 73; 90; 93; 100; 110; 123).
Hair: p. 175; Roth, “Bilddenkmäler” 1976, 555; Böhner, “Niederdollendorf’ 1950, 67. Being
bowls, Buckelhelme are not open, show no true hair, and altogether differ in their structure
from crossband helmets (Klumbach, Helme 1974, 45f.). Wigs: Künzl, “Fellhelme” 1999.
6 Buckles also fasten the neck guards of several fourth-century Roman comb helmets:
Berkasovo 1 and 2; Deurne; St Giorgio di Nogara. Klumbach, Gardehelme 1973.
Manojlović-Marijanski, “Fund” 1973, 30f., sees, perhaps rightly, in leather-fastened cheek
guards a non-Roman tradition.
7 Reinach’s drawings are reproduced in Le Bohec, Armée 1989, XII.
8 Froehner, Colonne 1865, 101.
9 Somewhat similar are third-century helmets from Dura-Europos as Ubl, “Eisenhelme” 2001,
8, rightly points out. Yet their high paraboloid shape and ridged bands set them off as very
distantly, if at all, related.
10 Arwidsson, Valsgärde 1977, 26.
11 Another type of crossband helmet, dated to the fifth and sixth centuries, with very broad
bands and the spaces between the bands filled, is named after the find spot at Bretzenheim
near Mainz and may be a sub-group of the same tradition: List, “Spangenhelme” 1903;
Behrens, “Kriegergräber” 1916, 6; Gamber, “Waffen” 1964, 16, Böhner, “Spangenhelme”
1994, 535ff.; a tenth-century crossband helmet from Groningen/Netherlands: Jager,
Koningen 2000, 11. Not crossband helmets in this sense are Trajanic bowl helmets
reinforced by crossbands, contra: Böhner, “Spangenhelme” 1994, 535ff.
12 Klumbach, Gardehelme 1973; Overbeck, “Zeugnisse” 1974; James, “Helmets” 1986;
Simkins, Warriors 1988, 151–154. Alföldi, “Helmform” 1934, 118f., 139ff., does not keep
the crossband helmet well enough apart from the comb (“ridge”) helmet.

Notes 251
13 Contra: Alföldi, “Helmform” 1934, 118ff.; Arwidsson, Valsgärde 1977, 21–33; Hauck,
“Germania-Texte” 1982, 214; Almgren, “Helmets” 1983, 11–16; Ambrosiani, “Regalia”
1983; Steuer, “Ringschwert” 1987, 200ff.; Böhner, “Spangenhelme” 1994, 539; Steuer,
“Helm” 1999, 332: “Dabei wird später die Kalotte aufgelöst in kreuzweise
übereinandergelegte oder ein Netz bildende Bänder,” which staggers belief; Ubl,
“Eisenhelme” 2001, 8.
14 Leaving aside reworked Roman helmets and unreliable trophies, finds of Germanic helmets
are reported in Schumacher and Klumbach, Germanendarstellungen 1935, 60, and Much,
Germania 1967, 145. Quadi: CIL III 10969—RIU 509 (Brigetio). Constantinian cavalry
helmets: Klumbach, Gardehelme 1973, 9–14; James, “Helmets” 1986. Vendel helmets:
Steuer, “Ringschwert” 1987, 199ff.; Böhner, “Spangenhelme” 1994, 533ff.
15 No Carolingian helmet finds: Steuer, “Helm” 1999, 335. Coin of Probus: Victoria Gutthica
binio gold medallion, Catalogue Auction Leu 1997, no. 119; another coin of Probus (RIC
913) shows a captured warrior perhaps with a wale helmet. A Frank or Alaman seems to be
shown with a wale helmet on the Constantinian coin of AD 315, RIC VII, 1966, Ticinum
28=M.R. Alföldi, Goldprägung 1963, no. 159, p. 45 and plate 5, fig. 74.
16 Bishop and Coulston, Equipment 1993, 172; Böhner, “Spangenhelme” 1994.
17 Beowulf 1030–1034; Bruce-Mitford, Aspects 1974, 210ff.; Arwidsson, Valsgarde 1977, 21f.
18 Hittites: the guardian at the King’s Gate in Hattusas, e.g. Macqueen, Hittites 1986,
frontispiece. Hallstatt Celts: Kimmig, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 403.
19 They take the place of the (bird dragon?) beaks on the Viksø helmets (see note 2, this
chapter). Twin dragons are found across Europe on fourth- to sixth-century sword chapes,
belt buckles, brooches, amulets and fibulae, often fashioned as a two-headed wyrm (Werner,
“Heilsbilder” 1963; Böhner, “Eschwege” 1991, 699f) may be a very specific symbol. Belt
buckles with twin dragons of varying heads (“Tierschnallen”) are known from the fourth
century, e.g. Waurick, Gallien 1980, 152ff; 176ff. Vierck, “Nordendorf” 1967, 123ff.;
Böhner, “Spangenhelme” 1994, 452ff.; Fuchs, Alamannen 1997, fig. 149 (Runder Berg).
Twin dragons on bracteate medallions: Hauck, Goldbrakteaten 1985, nos. 262 and 286.
20 Bruce-Mitford, Aspects 1974, 210.
21 Ammianus 18.8.12; 31.7.4: “Quorundam capita per medium frontis et verticis mucrone
distincta in utrumque umerum magno cum horrore pendebat.” Óláfs saga Helga 226;
Davidson, Sword 1962, 196f.; Myths 1988, 78.
22 Hair: Grönbech, Kultur 1997, II, 124; Birkhan, Kelten 1997, 1063. Later Germanic helmets,
like that of Sigurd at Hylestad, also left much hair to be seen. Took off helmets: Ammianus
20.11.12, see p. 67, this volume; William the Conqueror showed his face in the battle of
Hastings in 1066—witness the Bayeux tapestry.
23 During the first two centuries of our era Germani rarely fought with bow and arrows:
Raddatz, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 425; 429f.; Wenskus, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 459.
24 Cichorius, Reliefs II, 1896, 178: “Zu einer Bestimmung dieser Truppe fehlt jeder
Anhaltspunkt.”
25 Cheesman, Auxilia 1914, 131, rightly took them for such: “helmets of a curious Teutonic
pattern.”
26 Wrede, Hermengalerie 1972, herms 68 and 69 with plates 34.1; 36.1; 35.1; pp. 70f. Bruce-
Mitford, Sutton Hoo 1978, 374 (though hardly a hint of “sexual ambiguity”).
27 Such as the numerus Hnaudifridi, RIB 1576.
28 AD 200: Ilkjær, “Gegner” 1997. Franks: Sidonius, Letters 4.20. Weapons given: Tacitus,
Germania 14; for the law codes see McCormick, Victory 1986, 292, note 149-Beowulf 303–
306; see also 334; 2517f.; 2635–2638; 2642; 2864ff.; Höfler, Schriften 1992, 91ff.; 105ff.
The custom was adopted by Roman emperors for their guards, cf. Alföldi, “Helmform”
1934, 108. Eagle helmets: Böhner, “Eschwege” 1991, fig. 30; Helmet 7 from Valsgarde
(Hauck, “Polytheismus” 1994, figs. 12a and 13); Steuer, “Ringschwert” 1987, 196f. The

Notes 252
Icelander Bolli’s eleven followers all wore red scarlet dress and rode in golden saddles
(Laxardal saga 77). Dagsson: Heimskringla, Haraldssona saga 26.
29 Few swords: Tacitus, Germania 6: “rari gladiis utuntur.” Evans, Lords 1997, 38f. Helmets:
see note 3.
30 Chariovalda, leader of the Batavians fighting for Rome in Tiberius’ time, Tacitus, Annals
2.11: “ac multi nobilium circa” (AD 16); for Chariovalda’s troops perhaps becoming
regulars, see Alföldy, Hilfstruppen 1968, 91. In AD 470 Prince Sigimer, perhaps from the
Rhine area, had a following of armed reguli, Sidonius, Letters 4.20; likewise Beowulf 357:
“mid his eorla gedriht.” Saxo in the thirteenth century states (54, 34f., and 12.1f.): “Tanto
etenim princeps aciem securior intrat, quanto illum melius procerum stipaverit agmen”—a
prince enters the fight the safer, the stronger the band of athelings that guards him.” Seven
kings as a bodyguard: Saxo 217. Units of their own: Ammianus 16.12.49: “optimatium
globus” (AD 357); Saxo 220. Gothic optimates troops of the sixth century: Haldon,
Praetorians 1984, 96ff.
31 Sword as noblest weapon: see p. 63. Raddatz, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 425: “Das für den Stich
geeignete leichte Schwert war von nachgeordneter Bedeutung” no doubt refers to its rarity
rather than its standing in the eyes of the warriors.
32 Anglo-Saxon helmets: Steuer, “Ringschwert” 1987, 200f. Almgren, “Helmets” 1983;
Waurick, “Helm” 1999, 327f. See also Pollington, Way 1989, 150: “Manuscripts often show
a style of helmet consisting of a circular rim, to which are attached two metal bands which
intersect at the crown… It is perfectly possible that substantial numbers were produced to
equip those freemen who regularly engaged in military service.”
33 Sutton Hoo and Benty Grange helmets: Bruce-Mitford, Aspects 1974; Bruce-Mitford, Sutton
Hoo 1978, 203–225.
34 Tweddle, “Coppergate” 1982.
35 Bruce-Mitford, Aspects 1974, 231.
36 Last, “Bewaffnung” 1976, 469: Stuttgarter Bilderpsalter fol. 90 verso. Steuer, “Helm” 1999,
335.
37 Förstemann, Namenbuch 1900, 808 and 1518.
38 Alföldi, “Helmform” 1934, 119; Hauck, “Germania-Texte” 1982, 214: “Subspatantike”;
Almgren, “Helmets” 1983.
39 Ambrosiani, “Regalia” 1983; Steuer, “Ringschwert” 1987, 200ff.
40 Steuer, “Ringschwert” 1987, 200; Capelle, “Gjermundbu” 1998, 126ff. Steuer, “Helm” 1999,
337.
41 Jankuhn, “Herrschaftszeichen” 1954, 105–114; von Carnap-Bornheim, “Forschungen” 1997.
42 Alföldi, “Helmform” 1934, 119; Deér, “Kaiserkrone” 1950; Almgren, “Helmets” 1983. The
crossband crown of Theodahad, king of the Ostrogoths 534–536, as seen on several coins
(pictures in Altheim, Krise 1943, plate 73; Müller, Einfluss 1998, Abb. 1; 3; 4), according to
Altheim, Niedergang I, 1952, 107, and Müller, Einfluss 1998, 58, is a textile cap, and not a
metal crown, but the similar openwork cap Vandal kings gave to their Moorish vassals in
North Africa is called by Procopius (Vandal War 3.25.7) “a silver cap, not covering all of the
head but like a wreath, and held in place on all sides by silver straps.” The word for cap here
is the same as that used by Procopius, Gothic War 4.32.18, for the Gothic crown or cap.
Even as a cap the Gothic royal headgear is astonishingly close to crossband crowns. The
Lombard crown, depicted twice on the Agilulf visor (Fuchs, Alamannen 1997, 407; von
Hessen, Contributo 1975, 90–97 with plate 30) may be a crossband helmet. Crossband
crowns are also that of St Candidus in St Maurice, Switzerland, (Furger, Schweiz 1996, 66)
and that worn by Rudolf of Swabia around AD 1080 (Schramm, Kaiser 1983, 395).
43 Alföldi, “Helmform” 1934, 140ff.; Chaney, Cult 1970, 137ff.; Gussone and Steuer,
“Diadem” 1984, 368ff and 371, on Charlemagne; Steuer, “Ringschwert” 1987, 196.
44 Ammianus 27.10.10f.; Kraft, “Helm” 1951.

Notes 253
45 Laxardal saga 21. Snorri Sturlusson,, Heimskringla, Haraldssona saga 26; Óláfs saga Helga
213; 226; also Hákonar saga Góða 28.
46 Schramm, Kaiser 1983, 273; Gussone and Steuer, “Diadem” 1984, 371. Soldiers: see note
36.
47 Steenbock, Prachteinband 1965, 156ff. and fig. 89. Unlike Steenbock, one should date the
book cover to Lothair’s own reign, so M. Schulze-Dörrlamm, Mainz, advises me, to whose
kindness I owe many of the references here.
48 Ivory carving from Seitenstetten, now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York; Schramm,
Kaiser 1983, 335.
49 Schramm, “Herrschaftszeichen” 1954; Schulze-Dörrlamm, “Zierelemente” 1998.
50 Schulze-Dörrlamm, “Zierelemente” 1998. The decorative elements over the wala may
indeed imitate Constantine’s helmet but the architecture of browband and fore-to-aft band is
altogether different from Constantine’s half-bowl helmet.
51 Jankuhn, “Herrschaftszeichen” 1954, 105–111; Schramm, Herrschaftszeichen 1954, I, 230,
and especially II, 396f. (unjustly criticized by Deér, “Byzanz” 1957). The openness, merely
potential to Schramm, is actual in the openwork helmets of Trajan’s Column. More recent
literature: Steuer, “Ringschwert” 1987, 196. Made in 1027: Schulze-Dörrlamm,
“Zierelemente” 1998. Gussone and Steuer, “Diadem” 1984, 371, think of “neue
Kronenformen wie Bügelkrone.”
52 Harold Godwinson, the last Anglo-Saxon king (AD 1066) also may have worn an open
crossband-wale crown: witness a silver penny of the Lewes mint, BMC Anglo-Saxon 11.46.
See also the gold penny of Edward the Confessor: Sutherland, Coinage 1973, no. 216, plate
20.
53 Golden helmet: Gylfaginning 51; Skáldskaparmál 17 (gullhjálm). Shared: Eliade, Myth 1963.
21
IRON AGE WARRIORS AND THE CIVILIZATIONS OF GREECE
AND ROME
1 Chariotry: Drews, Coming 1988; Drews, End 1993. Stelae: Telegin-Mallory, Stelae 1994; see
p. 57, this volume.
2 Svadbā, Maruts: Ŗg-Veda 7.56.13; Pokorny, Wörterbuch 1959, 883; Benveniste, Vocabulaire
1969, 331–332; Dumézil, Destiny 1970, 62ff; Stibbe et al., Lapis 1980; Bollée, “Sodalities”
1981; Bremmer, “Suodales” 1982 (cf. AE 1996, 399); Puhvel, Mythology 1987, 55; 242;
Mallory and Adams, Encyclopedia 1997, 631. Compare the warrior societies of North
American Indians: Turney-High, War 1991, 211ff. Origin: Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 86ff.;
151ff.
3 Ŗg-Veda 1.85.8; Schmitt, Dichtung 1967, 61ff.; Schmitt, “Altertumskunde” 2000, 399.
4 Plato, Nomoi 637.d.8 (Celts being drinkers); Plutarch, Marius 19.3 (Germani); Herodian 6.3.7
(Persians). Schröder, “Indra” 1957; also the warrior Vrkodarah, “Wolf-belly,” Bhagavadgita
1.15; Plutarch, Camillus 5.44.6 (Gauls); Tacitus, Germania 14.2; Histories 2.21.1f.; 4.29.1;
þrymskviða 24. Ash, Ordering 1999, 42f.
5 Losers: Strabo 4.4.5. Courage: Aristotle, Euthydemian Ethics 1229.b.22f.; Nicomachian
Ethics 1115b.24ff.; Politics 1327.b.25. Little to live for: Quintilion 3.14.55; Panegyrici
Latini 12.24.2: “Francus…qui vitam pro victus sui vilitate contemnet”; Ammianus 21.13.13:
“Feritate speque postrema ad perniciosam audaciam prompti.” See note 6. A late-Roman
Platonist, Themistius, went so far as to suggest that the Roman emperor needed no soldiers
at all: he could prevail with reason alone (Oratio 18.219b).
6 Plutarch, Lycurgus 22.3 (no overgreat fury!); Polybios 2.35.2–3; Caesar, Gallic War 1.40.4;
Strabo 4.4.2; Seneca, De ira 1.11.3–4; Tacitus, Histories 4.29: “temeritas inanis, inconsulta

Notes 254
ira.” Dio 38.45.4–5; Herodian 6.3.7; Dexippos fragment 26.5 (Jacoby, FGH II A 100);
Ammianus 15.4.11.
7 Ammianus 29–5.38: “sine sui respectu ruentes in pugnam”; Maurice, Strategikon 11.3.
8 Iliad 4.427–431.
9 Thucydides 1.6; Ammianus 23.6.75 (on Iranians as against Greeks). Hoplites: Estell, “Poetry”
2000, 6ff.; Stoll, “Gemeinschaft” 2002, 158ff.
10 Spartans: Plutarch, Agesilaos 34.
11 Thucydides 3.97ff.; Macrobius, Saturnalia 5.18.13ff.
12 Thucydides 7.30; Connolly, Greece 1981, 49; Raeck, Barbarenbild 1981.
13 Italic and Germanic tribes still neighbors near the end of the second millennium BC: Fromm,
“Lehnsforschung” 1999, 213–230, 216f.; Schmidt, “Isoglossen” 1999, 234f.; Birkhan,
“Germanen” 1970, 390f.
14 Rome and Italy: Aeneid 7.641ff., cf. Silius Italicus, Punica 8, 356ff. (bears: 8.523). Firehardened
spear-tips: Livy 1.32.12: “hasta praeusta.” Propertius 4.1.27f.: “Nec rudis infestis
miles radiabat in armis, miscebant usta praelia nuda sude.” Half-naked: Alföldi, Reiteradel
1952, 50ff. Flowing hair: Aeneid 11.640ff. Open combat, single combat: Livy 1.24ff.; 42.47;
Polybius 13.3; 36.9; Demandt, Idealstaat 1993, 252ff. Raucous song: Aeneid 7.705. Use of
clichés here: Schweizer, Vergil 1967, 16f. Roman warbands: AE 1996, 339 (Stibbe et al.,
Lapis 1980; Bremmer, “Suodales” 1982).
15 Demandt, Idealstaat 1993, 250ff.
16 Reckless attack, single combat: London, Soldiers, forthcoming. Hair: Miller, “Hair” 1998;
auxiliaries: Lucanus, Pharsalia 1.442: “Nunc tonse Ligur, quondam per colla decore crinibus
effusis toti praelate Comatae”; Maurice, Strategikon 12.B.1. Stand still: Caesar, Civil War
3.92, cf. von See, “Germane” 1981, 62-Caesar, of course, knew better; Arrian, Ektaxis 25;
Ammianus 16.12.47: “quieti et cauti.” Maurice, Strategikon 2.17f.; 3.5.3; 12.B.14; compare
Sun Tsu, fragment 6, in Ames, Sun Tsu, 1993, 247. Discipline as Roman warrior style:
Horsmann, Untersuchungen 1991, 196.
17 Suetonius, Augustus 25.4: “Nihil autem minus perfecto duci quam festinationem
temeritatemque convenire arbitrabatur” (i.e. haste and recklessness).
18 Dumézil, Religion 1970, 210; idem, Horace 1942, 7ff.
19 Vegetius 1.1; Josephus, Jewish War 4.45; Antiquities 19–1.15 (122); Appian 4.1.3; Dio
38.45.4f. This cliché, found already in Aristotle (Pol. 1327.B.25), gets even more
overworked during the third-century wars, especially in Dexippus: Bleckmann, Reichskrise
1992, 208f. Panegyrici Latini 12.24.2: “Romanum vero militem quem qualemque ordinat
disciplina et sacramenti religio confirmat.” Also Josephus, Jewish War 3.479 (Titus), and the
epigraph to this chapter; Stoll, Integration 2001, 38.
20 Decius: Dexippos 26.5. Celts: Strabo 4.195 (= 4.4.2); Livy 5.37.4 (387 BC); McCone,
“Hund” 113; Birkhan, Kelten 1997, 968. Germani: Caesar, Gallic War 1.40.4. Vitruvius
6.1.3–10; Josephus, Jewish War 2.377; Florus 1.37: “Invicta illa rabies et impetus quem pro
virtute barbari habent.” Meuli, “Maske” 1933, 1845f. Tacitus, Histories 4.29: “inconsulta
ira”; Appian 4.1.3; Dio 77.20.2; Panegyrici Latini 12.23.4: “tam prodigos sui”. Ammianus
16.12.30: “rabies et immodicus furor”; 16.12.36–47; 25.5.33; 26.7.11; 31.6.3: “petulantia”;
31.5.12: “vesania.” Iordanes, Getica 24: “beluina saevitia.” Cassiodorus, Variae 1.24.1:
“gaudium comprobari,” cf. Beowulf 1539 gebolgen. Hamberg, “Germanen” 1936, 21–49,
39f.; Timpe, “Furor” 1998, 254f. For ecstatic warriors see also de Vries, Religionsgeschichte
I, 1956, 94ff. Cf. Tacitus, Annals 4.47 on cohors Sugambra “prompta ad pericula.”
21 Hartmann, Römer 1985, fig. 4.
22 Vulnerable: see p. 92. Advantage: Vegetius 2.14.3. Fight madly: Aeneid 12.499: “irarumque
omnis effundit habenas”; Silius Italicus, Punica 5.158: “rabies”; 5.172: “furentem”;
Lucanus, Pharsalia 7.551; 10.72; Tacitus, Histories 1.63: “furore et rabie”; Josephus
approves of frenzied attacks—if done by Romans (B.I.3.485: ).

Notes 255
Ammianus 16.12.37: “iretque in barbaros fremens.” Claudian, 7.73, claims for Honorius
“quae tibi tum Martis rabies!” Aeneid 8.700–703; Dumézil, Religion 1970, 209; 390.
Appian, Civil War 2.151: .
23 Sallust, Catiline 53.3: “gloria belli Gallos ante Romanos fuisse.”
24 Pliny, Panegyric 23: “nam milites nihil a plebe habitu tranquillitate modestia differebant.”
Tacitus, Annals 3.40: “nihil validum in exercitibus nisi quod externum”; Histories 2.32:
“Germanos quod genus militum apud hostes atrocissimum sit.” Aurelius Victor, Caesares
3.15. Ammianus 31.5.4; Demandt, Spatantike 1989, 265ff.
25 Roman ideal of manhood: Dahlmann, “Mannesideal” 1978; McCall, Cavalry, 1992. Lucan
7.432ff.: “redituraque numquam/libertas ultra Tigrim Rhenumque recessit/ac totiens nobis
iugulo quaesita vagatur/Germanum Scythicumque bonum, nec respicit ultra/Ausoniam.”
Haas, “Germanen” 1943/44, 111ff.; Horsfall, “Romulus” 1971.
26 Aeneid 7.641ff.; 9.603ff.; Silius Italicus 8.356ff.; Rehm, Bild 1932, 66ff.; 88f.; 96f. Virgil
critical of this old Italy: Schweizer, Vergil 1967; Horsfall, “Romulus” 1971. Ethnological
sources of Silius: Norden, Urgeschichte 1974, 165ff. Cf. Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 82:
“Jedenfalls wussten noch die augusteischen Dichter sehr gut, dass in der alten Zeit die
Krieger mit solchen Wolfsrachen ausgerüstet waren.” Lucanus, Pharsalia 1.419ff.
27 Germani: Strabo 4.4.2, taking his account of the early Celts “from the customs that hold fast
to this day among the Germani”; ibid. 4.4.3: Seneca,
Dialogi 4.15.1; Tacitus, Histories 4.16.1: “Germani laeta bello gens”—compare Sallust, Cat.
40.1: “natura gens Gallica bellicosa.” Ammianus 16.12.46: “Alamanni bella alacriter
ineuntes”; Haas, “Germanen” 1943/44, 111. Russell, Germanization 1994, 118, calls
Germanic culture at the time “the most authentic Indo-European”—yet Sarmatians, Alans,
Slavs, and Balts might equal them if we knew more about them. Insular Celts: Birkhan,
“Germanen” 1970, 391; 439; Evans, “Lords” 1997. Sarmatians (“Scythians”): Lucan
7.432ff.; Vernadsky, “Hintergrund” 1951.
28 Caesar, Gallic War 1.48; 7.65; 8.13; 4.12–15.
29 Dio 38.45.4–5, going far beyond Caesar, Gallic War 1.40. Germani like Gauls: Dio 38.46.2.
30 Forms of discipline: Tacitus, Histories 3.21, “fidei quam iussorum patientior”; Germania 7,
“exemplo potius quam imperio.” Main enemies: Tacitus, Annals 2.88, “[Arminius]
florentissimum imperium lacessierit”; Germania 37.3, “Quippe pro regno Arsacis acrior est
Germanorum libertas”; Strobel, “Chattenkrieg” 1987, 431.
31 Caesar, Gallic War 7.13.1; Aur. Victor, Caesares 3.14f.; Demandt, Spätantike 1989, 268ff.;
Speidel, Riding 1994, 12ff.
32 Fought: Dio 77.13.2; Herodian 7.2.6. Looks: Dio 77.11.1–2; Herodian 7.1.12. Panegyrici
Latini 8.16.4 accuses the Roman pretender Allectus of wearing Germanic dress and long
hair. Rome resisted where she could, and though giving in to military needs, she stood up to
the northerners culturally: laws forbade the wearing of long hair or furs in the city: Codex
Theod. 14.10.4: “Maiores crines, indumenta pellium etiam in servis intra urbem
sacratissimam praecipimus inhiberi” (AD 416).
33 Morillo, Warfare 1994, 2.
34 Thus the vision of Altheim, Niedergang I, 1952, 215. Altheim takes the sundry old warrior
styles all together as one “style of history,” rightly perhaps; but he overlooks that they are
older than Greece and Rome, and he overstates the role of horsemen (the Auxilia Palatina
were foot).
35 Polybios 2.35.2–3 Strabo 4.4.2; Dio 38.45.4–5; Dexippos FGH II A 100, F 26.5.
36 Panegyrici Latini 8.11: “Natio etiam tunc rudis et solis Pictis modo et Hibernis adsueta
hostibus adhuc seminudis, facile Romanis armis signisque cesserunt.”
37 De ira 1.11.3–4.
38 Ammianus 21.13.13: “semiermes.”

Notes 256
39 Spearblade: like Stilicho’s on his ivory diptych. Long-haired, blond, pretty-faced, young:
Synesios, De regno 18.a.
40 See p. 66. Cf. Priscus, frag. 30 (Blockley).
41 Tacitus, Germania 14; Ammianus 16.12.60; Beowulf 2632ff.; see p. 117, this volume.
Speidel, Riding 1994, 13ff.; 19; 25; 29; 36f.; 55; 58f.; 72; 84; 92; 102; 129.
42 Herodotus 5.78, see also p. 59, this volume. Plato, Politeia 667 c (cf. Jaeger, Paideia 1973,
II, 332f.)—Germanic women and children, as in Plato, witnessed battles: Tacitus, Germania
7.2, with Much, Germania 1967, 162f.; see p. 64, this volume. Modern emphasis on morale
in battle since Du Picq and Keegan: McCall, Cavalry 1992, 16ff.
22
END AND AFTERGLOW
1 Gallic War 1.1.3 and 6.24. Tacitus, Agricola 11.5: “Nam Gallos quoque in bellis floruisse
accepimus, mox segnitia cum otio intravit, amissa virtute pariter ac libertate. Quod
Britannorum olim victis evenit: ceteri manent quales Galli fuerunt.” This is borne out by the
fact that they were not recruited into the horse guard of the Equites Singulares Augusti:
Speidel, Riding 1994, 81ff. Grágás (about AD 1130): “Ef gengr berserksgang.
Oc honvm fiorbavrg (=banishment for three years)”; Blaney, “Berserkr”
1972, 150.
2 Contra: Lévi-Strauss, Tropiques 1977, 281ff.
3 Culture understood with E.O.Wilson, Biophilia 1984, 101, as “a product of the mind which
can be interpreted as an image-making machine that recreates the outside world through
symbols arranged into maps and stories.”
4 Eliade, Return 1954; Myth 1963, 145.
5 Tacitus, Germania 7: “Velut deo imperante, quem adesse bellantibus credunt”; Much,
Germania 1967, 160.
6 Contamine, War 1984, 183. Military display especially conservative: Estell, “Poetry” 2000,
52.
7 Piggot, Europe 1965, 22: “Two groups of cultures, literate innovators and non-literate
conservators,” lived side by side in Europe during the Roman Empire; cf. ibid. 226–260. An
overly critical assessment of continuity in Indo-European warrior styles, equating
conservative with static: Mallory, Search 1989, 110f.; better: Puhvel, Mythology 1987, 242.
A model study of recurrent phenomena in ancient Germanic history across more than a
thousand years is Wenskus’s Stammesbildung 1961. War-lore continues from AD 200 to
1200 in naming weapons: Düwel, Runeninschriften 1998, 149. Ancient Germanic—medieval
continuity: Höfler, “Kontinuitätsproblem” 1937; Kienast, “Treue” 1978, 320ff.; Beck et al.,
Germanen 1998, 240ff.
8 Third-century aristocrats e.g. Werner, Zierscheiben 1941; Storgaard, “Aristocrats” 2003.
9 DeMarrais et al., Ideology 1996.
10 Piggott, Europe 1965, 226–260. The Vikings did not change essential customs: Grönbech,
Kultur 1997, II, 306. See also Rives, Tacitus 1999, 135ff.: “It is necessary to extrapolate. Yet
it seems safe to do so, because in its main lines the picture remains fairly consistent over the
centuries.” Contra: Lund, “Germania” 1991, 2050ff., seeing continuity as “belanglose
Parallelen.”
11 Fornmanna sögur 3, 182f.; Höfler, Geheimbünde 1934, 172ff.
12 Wild Hunt: Höfler, Geheimbünde 1934; Kershaw, God 2000. Farther afield, in Tibet and
Japan, images of ancient Indian Hayagrîva horse-hooded warriors, now god-like heroes, still
dance the war dance. Indian warriors with horse-hoods: Herodotus 7.70. In June 2000 I

Notes 257
noted a Hayagrîva “Horse Buddha” in Tibet’s Sera monastery who was still escaping
destruction by Chinese occupiers; Linrothe, Compassion 1999, 85ff.; Widengren,
Feudalismus 1969, 150f.; Alföldi, Struktur 1974, 96 (Gandharva).
13 Beowulf 671ff.; also 2506ff.; 2518f.
14 Bartoli’s drawings: Dzur, Trajanssdule 1941 (scene 36 is Bild 25f.). Civilis: Teitler, Opstand
1998, 20. Buck-warriors: Teitler, Opstand 1998, 22, taken up in 1950 by John Huizinga:
Teitler, Opstand 1998, 11; see also 9; 40; 66.
15 Painting by Charles Gleyre, now in the Musée Cantonal des Beaux Arts, Lausanne,
reproduced as a cover illustration to Birley, Tacitus 1999. See also the painting by P.
Thumann, Return of the Victorious Teutons.
16 D.Baatz kindly informed me of the iron sculpture now in the Schinkel Pavilion of Schloss
Charlottenburg, Berlin, and of the Schwetzingen piece.
17 McNeill, Keeping 1955. At the beginning of the Iraqi war in 2003, men of the 3rd US
infantry division stomped out a war dance, for dancing still arouses feelings like those of the
ancient warriors. In the same war, the US Marine unit that drew fire in the town of Nasiriyah
was “Timberwolf”: under the spell of animal sympathy another world, ancient and uncanny,
still opens. Michael Crichton’s film The Thirteenth Warrior needlessly casts bear-warriors as
foreign and ugly, yet it stirs powerfully. Knowledge, according to Plato (Seventh Letter,
344a), needs an inborn affinity.

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INDEX
Adrianople 68, 70, 93, 116, 139
Africans 2, 13, 87, 91, 194
ala see army (Roman)
Alamannia, Alamanni 20–7, 29–30, 32–3, 67, 70, 95, 105, 139, 143, 148, 154, 160–3, 175, 180;
artists 163;
Gutenstein 3, 24–35, 163;
Iuthungi 22, 148;
Pliezhausen 140, 161–3
Ambrones 52, 115
American Indians 2, 13–14, 22, 39, 44–6, 57, 69, 71, 87, 92, 179;
Skraelings 76
Ammianus Marcellinus 67–8, 70, 87, 105, 110, 116, 139, 160–1
ancestors 1, 14, 29, 37, 123–4, 198
Anglo-Saxons 23, 31, 43, 97, 103, 109, 185;
helmets 185;
see also England
animal sympathy 13–17, 19–21, 45, 53–4, 67, 111, 194;
see also skin
antiquity 63, 100, 109, 123, 132, 140–1, 145, 180–2, 200
aristocrats 132, 198–9,
see also athelings;
leaders
Armilausi 8, 60, 64, 78
Arminius 110, 154
Ariovistus 103–5, 107–8, 111, 196
armor 57–58, 62, 64, 88, 93, 97, 195;
armored horsemen 94–96;
see also hauberk
army (Roman) 6–9, 41, 110, 117;
ala 7, 16, 136–8;
antesignani 18;
armilustrium 18, 167;
Celeres 148
clibanarii 161, 164;
cohort 7–8, 104, 115, 153–4;
composition 9–10;
excubitores 42;
horsemen 152, 168;
irregulars 9, 104, 181;
legion 8, 41, 64, 91, 104, 108, 110, 153–4, 176;
praetorians 8, 66, 91;
strike force 7–9, 17, 19, 88–90;
velites 17, 142;

Index 284
see also auxilia, discipline, gravestones, schola, singulares, standard-bearers,
Års see Denmark
art 33, 162–3
Assyria 57–9;
see also Tukulti-Ninurta
athelings 100, 106, 117, 122, 185–6, 199
attack 5, 92, 104–6, 116–7, 140, 146, 148;
circling attack 106, 146–8;
formations 148, 187;
see also canter
Aurelian Column 169
auxilia 7–9, 17, 19, 39–41, 64, 104, 137, 182, 185, 195;
palatina 20–2, 47–9, 52–3, 91, 111, 117
ax 119, 198
Balder 68, 111, 118–9, 121
barbarians 193–4
bare-chested 5, 9, 60, 64–5; 68, 88–92, 106, 114, 158–9, 168, 194
bare-headed 60
barefoot 5, 9, 64–5, 91–2, 194
barritus 104, 106, 108, 111–3, 115–7, 126, 197
Bastarnae 115, 166
Batavi 1, 7–8, 17, 98, 104–6, 115, 130, 135–6;
146, 179;
see also horse guard
battle 105, 114–5, 117, 120, 123, 125, 130, 179, 187, 195
battle array 105
Battle of Maldon 70–1, 78, 109, 145
Bavaria 24, 30, 33, 123–4, 143, 166, 180
Bayeux tapestry 96, 109, 122, 140, 145, 148
bear-warriors 7, 14, 17–19; 28, 35–6, 39–46, 74, 80, 200
beginning of time 1, 36
belt 30–1, 88, 118, 123
Beowulf 2, 35, 70–1, 111, 123, 184–5, 199
berserks 8–9, 36–7, 43–4, 57–80, 91–2, 105, 111, 179–80, 193, 197, 199
birds 126, 161
black-painted 81–2
blindness 120
boar 22, 53–4, 139;
boarhead-wedge 106–7
bodyguard 9, 18, 65–6, 75, 106;
see also horse guard
bonds of obligation 153, 179, 197
boomerang 94, 119
Bothvar Bjarki 45, 77
bow and arrow 59, 60, 64, 67, 73, 76, 105, 107,132
bracteates 2, 34, 119–21, 145, 164
Bråvalla 6, 31,44,96, 125
Britons see Celts
bronze age 2–3, 50, 57, 59, 73, 81, 87, 98, 117, 129, 151, 193–4,201
buck-warriors 47–50, 197

Buri see Armilausi
Byzantium 107–8, 110, 140, 148, 161, 175, 197
Index 285
Caesar 8–9, 14, 23, 103, 108, 111, 152–4, 166, 195–7
Canninefates 8, 136–8
canter 140, 158, 166, 171
cavalry see horse
Celts 2, 7, 13–15, 20, 47, 57, 60, 69–70, 75, 107, 114, 122, 129, 135, 142, 151–2, 175, 196;
Britons 64–5;
Gauls 17, 64, 98, 146–7, 153, 166, 177, 195, 198;
Lusitani 142, 175;
Picts 33, 197;
Scots 73;
see also Gaesati;
Irish
champion 19, 28, 36–7, 44, 63, 75, 80, 106, 117, 120, 126, 180
Chatti 8, 79, 100, 167, 175–80
Cherusci 98–100, 145, 154
China 13, 39, 44, 196
Christianity 3, 29, 33, 37, 42, 50, 71, 74, 78, 80, 121, 124, 163, 199
churls 106, 130–2
Cimbri 20, 60
cleaver 168–9
club 8–10, 18, 50, 57, 60, 72, 87–97, 106, 119–20, 194
column (formation) 100, 107
Cornuti 47, 106, 111, 115–16
cross 26–7, 34
crown 184–9
cuirass 66–7
see also hauberk
cultural continuity 3, 80, 109, 132, 140–1, 145, 163, 186, 199–202
cuneus:
see column;
shield castle
Danube 3, 94, 169, 196
dance 1–2, 27–9, 31–2, 50, 68–9, 108, 110, 114–26, 161, 193, 198;
pyrrica 116;
see also barritus;
tripudium
daring 151, 194
dart-throwers 129–30
Denmark 3, 19, 31, 49–50, 63, 69, 77, 97, 117, 179, 200;
Års 31,96, 118–21, 123;
Gallehus horns 50, 96, 122;
Gundestrup 19;
Himlingøje 117, 120, 122;
Hjortspring 166–7, 170;
Kitnæs 121;
Viksø 181
Dioscuri 114, 121–2, 164

discipline 9, 103, 109, 117, 140, 147, 194–5
dog-warriors 17, 33, 36, 59;
hounds 20–1
dragon 31, 34–5, 48, 58, 75, 112, 117–25, 164;
see also headdress
dress 5, 7–8, 26, 34, 39, 45, 66, 71–2, 78, 81–2, 88–91, 122–3, 148, 164, 167;
golden 124, 194
Dumézil, G. 3, 72, 194
ecstasy 1, 29, 36, 60, 73, 117, 119, 123, 188, 194
Edda 35, 82, 109, 113, 126;
HamDismál 175;
Hávamál 113;
Lokasenna 126;
Rigthula 79
einheriar 33
Eliade, M. 3, 29, 54
elite warriors 88, 99–100, 106, 145, 164
emperors (German): 97, 187–9
emperors (Roman) 3–5,8–9, 65, 143, 157–8, 187, 197;
Allectus 66;
Aurelian 9, 94–5;
Caligula 66, 76, 142, 166, 197
Caracalla 9, 66, 196;
Constantine 2, 9, 22, 47–9, 52–3, 66–7, 75, 95, 143, 164, 197;
Constantius II 67, 116, 197;
Domitian 176;
Gratian 67;
Hadrian 137, 139, 148;
Julian 20–2, 50, 67–8, 71, 110, 116, 161, 197;
Septimius Severus 196;
Theodosius 197;
Trajan 3–10, 19–20, 41, 66, 68, 137, 196;
Vespasian 157;
Vitellius 19;
see also Caesar
England 73, 76;
Caenby 122;
Dover 122;
Finglesham 118, 120–1, 123;
Hastings 97, 109, 111;
Sutton Hoo 28, 31, 69, 120, 185
ethos 193
Eyvind Skaldaspillir 33, 108
fairness 71
fame 60, 64, 77, 158, 193, 199
fate 163–4
fear 110, 114, 120, 180, 194
fire 36, 74, 79
first in battle 73, 79, 106–7, 179
Index 286

Florus 153–4
food and drink 193
foot 5,7, 16, 106, 117, 129, 136, 139–40, 151–71
Franks 20, 30–1, 42–3, 50, 66, 71, 94–5, 97, 106–7, 110, 121, 143, 145, 148, 185;
Grésin 121
freedom 67, 196, 198
Gaesati 60, 64, 69
Germani, Germanicpassim
Germany 7, 9, 13, 20, 41, 65, 123;
Elbe 63;
Hirschlanden 57, 60, 75;
Mainz 42, 154–5, 157, 161, 163–4, 167;
Oberwarngau 30;
Obrigheim 27–31, 35;
Thorsberg 51, 186–7;
see also Danube;
Rhine
gods 19, 28, 57, 93–4, 110, 114–5, 121, 122–3, 126, 198
Goths 70, 93–4, 107, 110, 116, 123, 131, 175
government 179
gravestones 154–8, 161–4, 167–8, 171, 177–8;
of Andes 167;
of Dexileos 157;
somewhat realistic 178;
Greece, Greeks 3, 14, 20, 72, 75, 81–3, 87–8, 91–2, 98, 111, 122, 126, 136–8 165, 175, 193–5;
Aetolians 59, 64, 194;
Arcadians 23, 115;
Athenians 81–2, 194;
Geometric and Archaic period: 47, 59, 114, 142;
Hellenistic 123;
Homeric 2;
Mycenaeans 16–17, 47, 59, 75, 88, 98, 135;
Sparta 16, 59, 64, 81, 110, 114, 116, 131, 175, 194
Greenlanders 76
Gregory of Tours 30, 43
guard 66, 75, 197;
see also singulares
hair 58, 61, 88, 167, 175–81, 184;
blond 60, 62, 71, 194;
cut 180, 194;
flowing 194;
hairband 176–7;
hairdo 159;
shaking 175;
see also long-hairs
handsomeness 61–2
Harald Fairhair 8–9, 43, 74–5, 180
Harald Wartooth 64, 71, 78, 96–7, 125, 180
Harii 81–3
Index 287

Index 288
hauberk 26, 33, 37, 39, 44, 75, 100, 104, 122;
lack of 67–8, 96–7
Hawaiians 93, 130, 143
headdress, headgear 30–1, 117–25
heathendom 31, 33
Hebrides 45, 78
Hector 16, 59, 69, 98, 114, 123, 194
Heliodorus 160–1
helmet 37–8, 40–1, 47–9, 51–2, 63, 67, 75, 104, 108, 112, 120, 125–6, 143, 181–9;
crossband helmets 181–9;
golden 185–9;
guard helmets 183;
helm-bearer 105–6;
lack of 62, 96;
Vendel-helmets 27–8, 31, 122–3, 140, 145, 163, 181–7
Heodeningas see Hjadnings
Hercules 1, 42, 87–8, 92, 94, 110–11
Hermunduri 166
hero 28, 34–5, 70, 87–8, 96, 110–1, 117, 123, 130, 145, 161, 164, 201;
see also Beowulf;
Sigmund;
Sigurd
Heruls 49, 64–5, 68
Hjadnings 33
Homer 2, 6, 13, 16, 103, 193;
see also Hector
hood see skin
horse, horsemen 4, 7, 59, 87, 92, 94–97, 117, 129, 135–48, 151–71;
guard 7, 9, 94–6, 129, 131, 143;
see also canter
horse-hewers 159, 165–71
horse-stabbers 65, 123, 151–64, 168
Hroc 21–2
hundred 105, 157, 160, 171
Huns 51
Iberia 88, 111, 114, 142
Iceland 2,18, 36, 199;
see also sagas
Indo-Europeans 2–3, 13–18, 22, 33, 35, 39, 47, 51, 57–60, 72, 80, 83, 87, 94, 98, 103, 105, 110,
114, 116, 135, 151–2, 164, 175, 187, 193–4;
Aestii 93;
Celtiberians 88, 111, 114, 142, 175;
Dacians 3–5, 20, 65, 88, 91–2, 94, 103, 105, 148, 152, 198;
dispersal 3, 15;
Hittites 15–16, 44, 58–9, 75;
Illyrians 146;
Indians 3, 13, 16, 31, 47, 59, 70, 72, 114, 122, 175, 185, 193;
Iranians 13, 50, 58, 67, 72, 83, 95–6, 114, 175, 196;
Lithuanians 33;
Massagetae 135;

Index 289
Medes 135;
Mitanni 51;
Philistines 145;
Sarmatians 4–5, 20, 71, 138–9;
Scythians 16, 88;
Shardana 16, 47, 59, 75, 151;
Slavs 33, 69, 115;
Thracians 20, 93, 111, 114–15, 152, 154, 165–6, 194;
see also Greeks;
Irish;
Italic tribes;
Romans;
warband
Irish 33, 45, 69, 100, 180, 194, 197;
CúChulainn 70
iron age 59, 106, 108, 145, 193–6, 201
Italic tribes 17, 39, 59–61, 79, 107, 175, 194–6;
Brettii 23;
Lucani 22–3;
Praeneste 22–2;
Hirpi Sorani 17, 36, 72;
Oscans 91, 93
keeping faith 9, 197
Kernosovka, Ukraine 57, 87, 193
king 31, 36, 39, 66, 75, 80, 106, 122–34, 139, 180, 186–9;
see also Harald Wartooth;
Harald Farhair
knights 38, 124, 148, 171
lance see spear
language 137;
family 3;
Germanic 148
law 180
leaders 99, 106, 117, 121–2, 125, 132, 145, 169, 180, 184–6, 194, 196
Libanius 95–6, 106
Lombards, Longobards 20, 23, 35–6, 64, 68, 71, 107, 148
long-hairs 106, 123–4, 152, 158, 167, 175–80;
see also Chatti
looks 8, 41, 58, 65, 69–70, 81–3, 90
Ludwigslied 110
Lugii 81–3
Lykurgos 16
madness (furor) 16, 30, 43–6, 57, 59–64, 67–72, 89, 120, 122, 126, 179, 194–5
Marcomanni 148
Mars 119, 202
marten-warriors 51–3
mask 1–2, 32, 46, 123–4, 180, 186, 198
Mauri 6, 65

Maurice 71, 105, 107–8, 140
Merovingians 29, 94, 199
Middle Ages 17, 33, 35, 37, 50, 63, 96–7, 103, 109, 132, 138, 140–1, 171, 180, 196, 199–201;
Early 19, 24, 40, 42–5, 50, 94, 68–70, 100, 107–9, 117–8, 122–3, 139–41, 143, 145, 161–4,
183–7
mind-set 197, 201
missilia see darts
mixed horse-foot formation 170–1
Mongols 22
myth 3, 6, 18, 22, 28–9, 31, 33–7, 43, 45–6, 51, 54, 59, 73, 81–2, 88, 111, 122–3, 164, 193;
Ragnarök 28, 33, 82, 188;
Valhalla 28, 33;
see also Hrocx;
Romulus;
Woden
nakedness 8, 57–76, 69, 72, 92, 96, 117–18, 120–3, 151–2, 154, 171
names 2, 19, 22, 29–30, 32–3, 40, 44, 53, 87–8, 107, 120, 122–3, 125, 145, 186
neckband see ring
night warfare 81
Normans 96–7, 109, 111, 132, 148, 186
northern Europe 3, 18, 31–7, 43, 59, 66, 93, 140, 145, 166–7, 186, 198
Norway 3, 33, 76, 97, 100, 164, 180, 185;
Gudbrandsdalen 120;
Oseberg 31, 44, 53–4, 105, 109, 112, 120, 125–6;
Stiklastad 36, 97, 100, 109, 111, 130, 132, 187
not yielding ground 71, 77–9
Odoacar 87–8
Palestine 95
Palmyra 94–5
pelt see skin
pennon 137
Pharsalus 153–4
Placentia 113
Plato 110, 114, 193, 197
Polynesians 114
Portonaccio sarcophagus 91, 159–60, 168–9
praetorians see army
Quadi 138, 142
quiet 194
Index 290
reason 193–5
recklessness 16–17, 45, 60–79, 91–2, 105–6, 120, 140, 148, 194
religion see Christianity;
gods;
heathendom;
Woden

Index 291
Rhine (area) 3, 104–5, 110, 115, 137, 154–7, 161, 167–9, 196
ring 78–9, 176, 179, 197;
neckband 118, 197
rocks for throwing 93, 105, 131–2
Romans 14, 17, 20–1, 30, 33, 47–9, 51, 59–60, 64, 69, 89, 98, 106, 111, 122, 135, 142, 193–202;
Lupercalia 47;
Romulus 17, 22–4, 47;
Salii 115;
see also army (Roman)
Rugians 145
sagas 2, 32, 36–7, 44–6, 65, 68, 71, 74, 77–9, 100, 109, 201;
Egils saga 32, 74–5;
Eiriks saga 76;
Eyrbyggja saga 180;
Grettis saga 100;
Laxardal saga 100, 187;
Vatnsdæla saga 37;
Ynglinga saga 74
Saxo Grammaticus 6, 36, 50, 63–4, 68, 71, 77–79, 97, 108, 117
Saxons 43, 117, 124, 143, 180
scabbard 24–6, 31, 34, 49, 62, 177
Scandinavia 27, 33, 44, 74, 78, 109, 194, 199
scholae:
gentilium 9;
scutariorum 9
self-dedication 29
service in the Roman army 7–10; 65, 143, 148, 153, 169, 196–7;
see also ala;
auxilia;
cohort
shaman 14, 57
shape-shifting 45, 58, 70
Shardana see Indo-Europeans
shield 64, 66, 69, 71, 74, 97–8, 100, 103–9, 112, 114–16, 119;
badge 20–2, 48–9, 81, 104, 114–16; 120–1;
boss 108;
castle 91, 100, 103–9, 117, 126;
coat used as 155–6, 168;
lack of 68, 75, 77, 152, 155, 168;
long 143;
round 129, 139;
six-cornered 6–7, 157;
wall 100, 126, 132
Siberia 14, 44
siege 106
Sigmund 23, 34–6, 111, 164
Sigurd 34–5
single combat 60, 103
singulares:
equites 4, 7; 9;

Index 292
pedites 8, 65
skill 105, 107, 117, 146–7, 180
skin, hood 14, 17, 26, 32–4; 40–42, 123, 200
slingers 64, 91, 94, 129, 131
Snorri Sturlusson 33, 35–6, 44, 70, 74,
snorting 70, 79
song 69, 110–1, 114–5, 122, 124
spear 27, 32, 63, 69, 75, 91, 98–100, 104, 107, 117–21, 129, 197;
ango 145, 198;
barbed 142–5;
borne on shoulder 32, 137–40;
framea 129, 132;
for horsemen 135–41, 143–8;
lance 32, 100, 135–141, 161; 164;
short 151, 159, 195;
throwing strap 145;
Woden’s 145
speed 8, 15, 59, 62, 167, 194
squires 166, 169–71
standard 122, 164;
bearers 18, 41, 109, 125
stealth 15, 83, 89
stone age 13, 42, 44, 53, 91
stone-throwing 64
storm 33, 58, 70, 108, 111
Strabo 129
Strassburg 70, 105–6, 111, 116, 164, 187
strength 87–8, 96–8, 114, 126
Suebi 93, 147, 179–80
Sugambri 115, 117
Sweden 3, 27, 30–3, 50, 68, 71, 95, 98, 108, 122, 164;
Björkö 120, 122–3, 200;
Ekhammar 26, 32–5;
Tanum, Bohuslän 117;
Torslunda 26–7, 31–35, 48, 68, 100, 117, 120, 126;
Uppakra 120;
Uppsala 199;
Valsgarde 105, 112, 141, 163;
Vendel 27, 139–41, 143;
Vendel helmet imagery 163
Switzerland 117, 200;
Windisch 120, 195
sword 18–19, 28, 31, 34–5, 39, 58–9, 62–3, 65–6, 68, 70, 79, 88–92, 114, 117; 120, 151
blow 184–5;
curved 152, 165–71, 194;
swordsmen 185;
two-handed 71, 75–7, 79;
see also scabbard
symbol 13, 38, 186, 194;
see also cross

Tacitus 7–9, 71, 81–2, 91, 98–100, 110–11, 113, 117, 120, 125, 129, 135–8, 146–7, 160, 171, 176–
80, 196
tactics 8–9, 67–8, 93, 99–100, 103–9, 116, 137, 143, 152, 187, 194, 201
tallness 8, 62, 64, 88, 92, 100, 151, 195
Tencteri 147, 152–4
Teutoburg Forest 107
Theoderic 124
Thor 87, 94, 97, 111, 175
Thorbjorn Hornklofi 7, 13, 43
Thorir Hound 36, 96
Thorolf 32, 75
Totila 123
training 107, 140
Trajan’s Column 3–7, 17–19, 41, 44, 60–1, 64–5, 91–4, 96–7, 105–7, 152, 196, 200–1;
accuracy 6–8, 17, 90, 201,
Moesian campaign 4–5;
scene 5, 135, scene24, 8, 88–90;
scene 36:4–10; 17–19, 24, 39–41, 63, 65, 78, 88, 92, 105, 183, 186;
scenes 37–42, 5–8, 62–63, 89–90;
scene 70, 104, 115
tribal troops 4, 6–10, 19–20, 62, 105, 117, 122–3
tripudium 116
Tropaeum Traiani 4,6, 8, 64
Tukulti-Ninurta 57–9, 68–70, 76, 114, 175
Tungri 138
Turks 22, 42
twelve 19, 37, 75
twins 23, 122
úlfheDnar see wolf-warriors
Usipi 152–4
Vagdavercustis 115
Vandals 71, 148
Vergil 6, 59, 71, 91, 93, 196
Vikings 75, 78, 110, 180, 186
Index 293
wale 184–7
war cry 110–11, 113
warband 23–4, 28–9, 31, 33, 64, 70, 75–6, 78, 123, 179, 185–6, 193–4, 197
warrior:
colorful 6;
fierce 8;
skill 8–9;
society 36;
styles 1–3, 39;
148, 180, 193, 196–202
weapons 7–8, 26, 32, 88, 96, 118–20, 137, 185, 193, 198;
blunted 120;
bronze-decorated 169;
of leaders 108, 145, 169;

miniature 169;
Roman 7;
spirit 196;
wooden 93, 96;
see also cleaver;
club;
dagger;
hauberk;
helmets;
lance;
shield;
spear;
rocks;
sword
willfulness 117, 193
Willows, battle at the 93, 110–11
windpipe 14, 36, 79
Woden 2, 26–33, 35–6, 42–4, 45–6, 69–70, 73–4, 80, 82–83, 95–6, 98, 100, 108–9, 111–3, 117–
126, 145, 163–4, 179, 188, 199
wolf-warriors 7–8, 13–41, 43–4, 59–60, 74, 80, 105–6, 123–4, 126, 193–4, 199–200;
howling 13–14, 31, 33, 36, 45, 59, 79, 126;
tail 120;
see also names;
windpipe
women 76, 79, 81–2, 125, 199
wounds 64
woundlessness 36, 59–60, 72, 120
yelling 110–13, 126, 194
youth 19, 23, 36, 41, 61, 63–5, 81–2, 171, 178–9
Index 294